Dalek and the Empress
by Mo Dav
Summary: Mandy is a human. Red is a Dalek. They fall in love. What happens? Read it and find out! (Not sure on the rating.)
1. Chapter 1

Screams tare through my apartment late at night. Well, I say night, but it's really day. Well, day but not to me.

Okay look, I work the night shift. I'm supposed to be sleep right now. Instead of jumping up to see what all the fuss is about, what do I do? I roll over and go back to sleep.

I managed to fall back asleep, the commotion outside settling- sort of, when my door explodes. My door is not supposed to explode!

"EXTERMINATE!"

I open my eyes, anger pulsing through me. It's be a long day. I need to be sleep!

Just as I open my mouth to explain this to whoever is in my home, a six foot, red salt shaker appears at my bedroom door. I open my mouth to yell at it, but close it when I notice it staring at me. Well, I think it is staring at me. It's eye stalk thing is zooming in and out in my direction.

The salt shaker looking thing has a red body, black balls covering its outside and a black head. Sticking out of the head is what could be called an eye stalk. Sticking out if the base looks like a wisk and a plunger.

"HU-MAN!" It screams, the lights on top of it's head flashing. "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!

Nope. I tear off my blankets, angrily jumping out of my bed. "No!"

I yank a hand through my thick red hair, the untamed curls stuck to my face from how I was asleep. I put up my hair in a messy pony tail. The sudden lack of blankets shocks my body. I had gotten used to the trapped heat that the chilly air in my room slaps my body. Once I'm finished I glare at the object.

"Stop staring! You heard what I said!"

I wrap my arms around myself. The looks, or lack of, that it's giving me is weird. Almost like a guy looking me up and down at a bar.

The salt shaker moves forward when it hears my response. The blue eye stalk sounds as it zooms in. "DAL-EKS DO NOT TAKE OR-DERS FROM HU-MANS!"

"Like I asked." I scoff. "You're not 'exterminating' me or whatever. I'm too tired for this mess. I'm going back to sleep."

I move just a centimeter to get back under my thick comforter when the wisk looking thing on the salt shaker aims at my bed. A light beam comes out of it. I scream in shock as my bed explodes.

"What the-?"

The salt shaker hovers towards me. Fear pushes me back against my wall. "YOU WILL COME WITH ME HU-MAN!" It screams as it turns around to exit the way it came. Apparently I'm supposed to follow?

"Um, no?"

The things turns back around. "YES! I HAVE OR-DARED YOU TO FOL-LOW! YOU WILL O-BEY!"

Anger takes over my fear as I find myself staring right into the blue eye stalk. "I take orders from no one when I'm not at work." I take a step closer to it. "Now GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

It stares at me, almost studying me. "YOU WOULD MAKE A GOOD DAL-EK."

Dalek? What the heck is a Dalek?

The "Dalek" hovers closer to me. It reaches out to me, its plunger barely touching the center of my stomach. I remind myself to breathe. I should be afraid right now. I should be boiling with anger from not even two minutes before this moment. But all I can do it watch in confusion as the Dalek gently touches my face and down my arm.

"YOU ARE NOT BAD FOR A HU-MAN," it says, "COME WITH ME." The Dalek turns again and hover to the door.

I step back and cross my arms over my chest, oddly uncomfortable that I'm only in my silk pj top and fuzzy Muppet pants. "Are you going kill me?" The Dalek stops. "If so, just do it now."

The Dalek does not turn around. Instead all it does is answer. "NO, WE WILL NOT KILL YOU, HU-MAN. YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED. PACK A BAG AND COME WITH ME. YOU WILL NOT BE RE-TURN-NING."

I rock back and forth on my heels as I quickly think about the situation. Stay here and clean up this mess and possibly die or go with the homisidal salt shaker and live?

Quickly, I run to my closest and stuff my clothes inside. T-shirts, shorts, jeans, underwear, brushes, hairties, everything. I yank on some tennis shoes and bolt out my broken door.

"Wait!" By the time I reach the Dalek, I'm out of breath.

"YOU... CAME?" The Dalek asks in a low roar.

I straighten my posture, still taking deep breaths. "Try- Trying to. I- I really hate cleaning up. Good grief you are fast!"

The Dalek does not respond. But I imagine that it smirks at my remark.

Suddenly, the Dalek rises higher in the air. "COME!"

I watch as the Dalek begins to fly away. During this short time, I notice all the chaos around me. Buildings broken and on fire, bodies scattered around, families cowering and crying. I even see more Daleks, covered in silver and gold, flying around the area, shooting what looks like lasers.

I shift my weight while looking after it in awe. I'm not running after that thing, but I'm afraid if I stand here too long another one might shoot me.

The Dalek must have noticed I'm not behind it. It circles around to come back to me.

A laugh escapes my lips as the blank stare of the Dalek must be one of confusion.

"Oh! Yeah, um, humans can't fly. So I can't really follow you too well." I rock back and forth for a moment. "Unless there's a way I can climb on top of you and you carry me?"

The Dalek backs away from me, almost fearful. "YOU WILL BE EX-TERM-IN-ATED IF YOU TOUCH ME."

I groan. That sucks. "Skin to what I'm guessing is metal? If I have a protective covering, like a blanket or a shirt, would that protect me?"

The Dalek does not respond. Instead it turns around. "CLIMB ON TOP OF ME. BE CARE-FUL!"

I adjust my bag. Looking at the back of the Dalek, an idea pops into my head. I drop my bag on the ground, which feels a lot like Mary Poppins' bag. I dig around for the roap I somehow grabbed and my large nightshirt.

I throw the nightshirt overtop of what I assume to be its head. If I can get a good foothold on its body, this may work. I take the straps of my bag and cross them over my chest, pulling it tightly. Now comes the fun part...

Using the rope, I tether myself to the Dalek. I hook both ends of the rope around the wisk and plunger thing and myself. Using the black balls as my footholds, I tie the rope around myself and the Dalek as a seatbealt.

Leaning on my stomach, I hold on to its head and lights. It looks like I belly flopped onto the Dalek.

"Okay!" I shout. My stomach warms as I can feel it through the metal. "Promise you wont drop me?"

"I WILL TRY!" The Dalek screams.

"Then let's go!"

Suddenly, the Dalek hovers above the street again. This time, it takes me up with it.

The Dalek slowly climbs higher into the air before going faster towards whatever destination.

Somehow, I don't know how, but somehow I managed to fall asleep while the Dalek was flying. Flying high above the clouds, I managed to drift back to sleep against the warm metal of its head. When we finally land, I almost fell on the ground.

"Where are we?" I yawn.

"WE ARE AT THE DAL-EK BASE. I AM TAKE-ING YOU TO SEE THE EM-PER-OR!"

As rub my eyes as I climb down from the Dalek. When I do, I notice all the other daleks that are doing different jobs, while three others yell orders. All the other daleks are the same silver and gold as before, but now there are three colored ones. There is a white dalek, a black dalek, and a blue dalek. They must but the higher ups. I turn around, coming face to face with a large white ball.

"So... are we going in that then? I ask. "Doesn't seem like we'll be able to fit."

The Dalek looks at me. "WE WILL FIT. PRE-PARE FOR TRANS-POR-TA-ION!"

At its words, the daleks kick into overdrive. I stumble closer to the red Dalek, watching as it shouts orders.

"So... would you mind if I like gave you a name?"

It turns its eyes stalk towards me again. "WHY? DALEKS DO NOT NEED NAMES."

I shrugs and leans against him. Although I can't exactly tell if the dalek is a guy, it seems enough like a jerk to be a guy.

"I don't know. I think if I'm going to travel with you, we should have names." My skin burns as I lean against him, but I don't move. He is looking straight ahead, not daring to move. "I'm going to call you Red."

"RED?" He asks.

I nod and take a step back from him so he can face me. "Yup, Red. My name is Amanda, but people just call me Mandy."

"I AM RED AND YOU ARE MANDY."

I smile at the dalek. He doesn't return the smile, of course, but something tells me he is.

During this short time, we have moved to a window, where I can overlook the stretch of land below.

The cities send smoke into the air as more daleks return to the base. They all seem rather pleased with themselves, while I wonder about what is happening below. How many lives have they ruined?

I open my mouth to ask when the black dalek screams an order. "ALL DALEKS TO THE ARK. WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE EM-PER-OR!" His voice is deeper than Red's. Definitely a guy.

The silver daleks move to the center of the base. There is a dalek-looking object sits. Except, this object is sucking the daleks in and does not appear to be hovering above ground. It must be the Ark.

As I piece this together in my mind, I hear Red and Midnight, the black dalek, arguing.

"THE HU-MAN STAYS!" Red yells.

Arguing about me.

I jog over to where Red is. Without thinking I run my finger across his body, getting his attention. I notice that touching him doesn't burn anymore.

"Hey, so, yeah, I'm gonna stay. I kind of want to meet this Emperor of yours." Midnight and the two others turn to study me. They look at my body up and down, just like Red did. "Oh, and hi, I'm Mandy."

Midnight turns. Without yelling another word, he leaves. Snowball and Blue follow him into the white ball. They take the Ark with them, although I don't know how it follows them.

"Well they seem nice."

"I THINK YOU SHOULD GO." Red says weakly.

I stare at him. "What?"

Red looks down. "IT IS NOT SAFE FOR A HU-MAN TO TRAVEL WITH DALEKS. YOU SHOULD GO."

I cross my arms over my body, which still has nothing but a silks tank top and ph bottoms on. I continue to stare at Red. He broke into my house, told me to pack a bag last minute, and flew me up here, and now he wants me to go?

I chuckle uncomfortably, I reach forwards to his eye stalk. Gently, I lift it enough that I force him to look at me. "Red, I'm not going anywhere. You brought me here, I'm staying."

Red and I stare at each other. I'm sure he would have dropped his jaw by now if he had one. Instead he turns around.

A smile finds its way onto my face. Climbing back on top of him, I laugh as he flies us into the white ball.

Once inside, it turns cold. The four daleks in the ball give off enough heat to warm a small cottage. I climb off of Red's back. When I do, I lower myself to the almost non-existent ground.

I reach in my bag to pull out a small travel pillow. Something tells me its going to be a long time before I'm getting out of here. Might as well get comfortable.

I settle down in my spot. I fell around me as I lean against who I hope is Red.

"That you Red?" I call into the dark.

Lights above me flash. "YES."

I nod as I lean against him. Once I'm situated, I close my eyes.

"Wake me when you want to talk or when we get there." I yawm.

It's at that point that I fall into an everlasting sleep. Not dead, but waiting. Waiting for the day I meet the Doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

Goodness! Sorry for those that read the first chapter all wonky. I didn't catch that until it was pointed out. Won't happen again though! Enjoy!

Being surrounded by metal tanks isn't want I would call "cozy". More like a mini furnace, but that doesn't stop me from catching up on the sleep that I missed and then some. To be honest, snuggling against Red's metal outside, while curling around him, is one of the best naps I've had in awhile. Granted it had to be at least an eight hour nap, but still.

Ugh, I feel gross. The dust and soot from yesterday are still covering me. I'm not sure how my bag had so much stuff in it, like the rope, or how I survived a bed explosion. I must have kept some spare stuff in my bag from when I used to go on weekend trips many years ago.

The seems like a lifetime ago. Geeze.

I sit up from my twisted position on the floor. It's so dark in here that all I can think of is that episode of Spongebob...

This isn't darkness, this is advanced darkness!

A laugh erupts in the night, or day, I can't tell. The sound shocks the daleks when I laugh, they're metal bodies springing to life. Each eye stalk turns to me.

A dark voice rumbles, "YOUR HU-MAN IS STU-PID"

"AFFIR-MA-TIVE!" A higher voice yells. "LAUGH-TER AT TIME LIKE THIS IS UN-AC-CEPT-A-BLE!"

From my position on the floor, I watch the exchange. Red says nothing from behind me, but I can hear his eye stalk moving downwards to look at me.

Is this why he didn't want me to come? Are his peers looking down at him because he brought me? That's not right. Red could have killed me in my apartment, but instead he brought me to whatever this place is.

Casually I lean back against Red, letting my fingers dance on his outer shell. "I was thinking of something I saw on TV years ago. I'm not stupid. My mind like to remember random things like songs or lines from TV shows."

I'm sure I imagined it, but I swear I feel Red push against me. Almost like he wants to put his arms around me, if he could. If he had arms or a physical body instead of a shell, I'm sure he would wrap around me.

I readjust closer to Red, practically sitting on his base. "Well if I'm going to be stuck with you, you might as well tell me who you are and all. Start from the beginning; what the heck is a Dalek?"

"WE ARE SU-PER-IOR!" The daleks begin screaming at once. "DAL-EKS ARE THE TRUE RACE!"

Clearing my throat, I bite, "Quiet!"

To my surprise, they obey. Red places his plunger thing on my shoulder. "DAL-EKS ARE THE SU-PER-IOR RACE. WE EX-TER-MIN-ATE ANY-THING NOT DAL-EK."

I nod along. "Right, right. Why?"

The daleks do not answer me. They just stare at me. I tilt my head, taking my time to study them. Even though there isn't any light, the blue lights from their eye stalks give me enough light to see their outlines.

"I've made an observation and two decisions." I say after a long amount of silence. The mechanic whirl sounds as I hold their attention. "Observation: your lights blink once with every syllable. That's why you break your words up."

I pause a moment, taking time to calm my breathing as I lean further against Red. I have to be careful with them. I know Red will protect me... maybe, but I don't know about the others.

Red's voice answers, "COR-RECT." Just as predicted, his lights flash twice.

A smirk finds its way onto my lips. "Okay, my first decision is that you four have names."

"DAL-EKS DO NOT HAVE NAMES!" the deeper voice screams with six flashes of light.

"You do now." I say with a laugh. "Your name is Midnight. Red already has his name. The one of you that is white is Snowball. And the one of you that is blue is Blue. That's final."

Silence answers me after this. Red doesn't say anything. Midnight doesn't say anything. All quiet.

Using this time, I sit back down to the ground. I feel around for my bag. It's got to be here somewhere... During my blind searching, I become quite acquainted with Red's anatomy. Sort of.

Eventually my fingers reach my bag. I dig around inside to find clothes to change into. If I change now and we arrive its going to get really awkward.

I decide to use the darkness to my advantage. As quietly as possible, I raise my shirt above my head, leaving my upper body exposed. The sound of the fabric echoes in the sphere.

I quicken my pace as I change. The pants become a but difficult on the floor, so let's just say that Red got acquainted with my anatomy as well, 'kay?

The sound of struggled breathing fills the air. "WHAT WAS YOUR OTHER DECISION MAN-DY?" Red asks. Is it just me or does he sound like he's having a hard time talking?

Is it because... no... is it?

Testing my theory, I explore above me with my hand until I've touched every part of him. "Oh, I just wanted you to tell me your history. Everything."

"HU-MAN!" Red calls, "CEASE THIS I-MME-DI-AT-LY!"

I drop my hand. "You're no fun," I tell him as serious as I can.

Inside I burst with laughter! A dalek is uncomfortable, or turned on, by a sing touch. Oh this is too good!

Midnight yells, "WE WILL TELL THE HU-MAN OUR HIS-TOR-Y!"

There's no concept of time in this sphere, but after however length of time passed, I knew everything there was to know about the Dalek Empire.

Or, lack thereof. Some jerk named The Doctor blew it up during the Time War. On the one hand, I feel bad for the daleks. It's sad that they lost their family and that makes me mad at the Doctor for what he did. But... I also feel sorry for him.

I choose not to disclose that information. Midnight and one other dalek already don't like me. I don't need to add any fuel to the fire.


	3. Chapter 3

Time is weird in this sphere thing. I can't tell if it's night or day, if it's been five minutes or an hour, but my stomach can tell.

A low but loud rumble echoes off the walls. Placing a hand to my stomach, I look up at Red. "Red? Are we there yet; I'm hungry."

"DAL-EKS DO NOT EAT," Midnight growls out.

I roll my eyes. "Red," addressing him again, "I'm hungry."

"WE ARE AL-MOST THERE. PLEASE WAIT." Red scoots back to what could be considered as a corner.

I scrunch my eyebrows. Why is he moving away from me? That's rude. I don't like when people, or daleks, are rude.

"Look, I get y'all don't eat, but I do. And if I don't get something to eat soon, it is not going to be pretty." I turn to where I assume Midnight is. "Get me something to eat NOW."

The daleks do not respond. All they leave me with is the sound of my stomach growling. I reach out, I feel my way to where I think Red is. I don't trust leaning against the other daleks, so I go to him.

Red blinks to life when my hand brushes against the top of his head. I sigh as I turn my back to him. I lean against his metal frame, my body fitting perfectly between the plunger and laser wisk thing. I stay there for a few minutes, letting my back rest against him.

"I'm bored and hungry." I lower myself to the ground. "Wake me up when we get there. The Emperor better have something to eat."

-

I'm not sure when I actually fell asleep. But I remember being snuggled against Red again. When I wake up this time, however, my stomach growls louder than last time and I'm alone.

Not only that, but the sphere is wide open and the light is blinding me.

"THE EM-PER-OR SUR-VIV-ED?" I hear Midnight ask.

Survived? I thought we were going to see him. Did they think he was dead to begin with?

I quickly grab my bag and secure it to me. As I try to run up the side of the sphere, I hear someone force a laugh. I try running up the side again, but I slide back down. These stupid shoes have zero grip.

The third time I try, I hear a scream, causing me fall down the side like a tumbleweed. I've got to get over that side. But how?

Taking off my bag, I take a calming breath. My worn tennis shoes threaten to fall apart as I run up the side of the sphere again. Instead this time I use my bag as a grappling hook.

Barely, I hang on to the side, enough to pull myself up. "Red!" I call. The dalek turns his head to me. "A little help here?"

Before anyone can process what I asked, Red hovers to me before I fall. I push myself above the edge until I'm gripping the edge of his head.

"Don't drop me!"

Red does as he's told. He pulls me away from the sphere until I'm clinging to him for dear life. When my feet touch solid ground, the weakness from my time in the sphere cause me to stumble.

A blonde and dark skinned man rush to my side. They're arms circle around me and keep me steady. The gun the man has around him swings in my direction.

I hate guns. And I have the feeling this one one isn't your typical gun.

"Oy, we got you!" The blonde says as she brings me to my feet. "It's alright, you're safe."

I find my two feet again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I've been sitting for... well, I don't know how long. Honestly I'm hungry!"

The solid ground underneath my feet buckles me again, sending me into the man's arms.

I mumble a short apology as Red screams, "RE-LEASE THE HU-MAN! SHE IS OURS!"

The man tightens his grip on me and pushes me behind him. "Not happ'nin'. She's comin' wif us."

I pop my head around his body. "Don't I get a say in any of this." I turn my attention to Red, whose laser is aiming at him. "Red, don't!"

The blonde woman looks from me to Red. She opens her mouth to say something when the door at the end of the room sends electric sparks. I back up to Red as the door opens, revealing a tall, skinny man wearing a brown suit and converse shoes.

Such a fashion statement. But his hair is great; thick. I like it.

"Rose!" He calls as he rushes forwards.

I watch as the blonde woman rushes to him, spinning each other in a hug. Lovers, obviously. The other man brings his gun and aims it at Red and the others with a nod in the tall man's direction.

The man in the suit makes eye contact with me, his eyes taking into account the daleks behind me. He opens his arms like he is going to catch me.

"I'm going to need you to very carefully walk to me. Slowly and calmly." His eyes keep flickering back and forth between me and Red, who has now moved closer to me.

Jealous boyfriend much?

I hold my arms out between the two like a referee. I look between the two, "Hold on just a minute. Red, back up a bit, yeah? Who the heck are you?"

The man drops his arms, straightening his demeanor. He opens his mouth to respond when Midnight hovers towards him

"DOC-TOR!" He growls. Such anger behind his words. And I thought he hated me.

The man, the Doctor, shrugs as he slips his hands in his pockets and waves his fingers. "Hello, that's me."

"Wait," I say before my mouth connects with my brain, "Doctor... the Doctor, the war guy?"

The Doctor shifts uncomfortably.

The blonde woman, Rose, pipes up, "How you know 'bout em then? They tell ya?" She gestures to the four daleks.

I nod. "Midnight told me that you destroyed the daleks, along with your family." I place my hand on Midnight's exterior, bringing me face to face with the Doctor.

"Sorry, did you say Midnight?" The Doctor asks as he scratches behind his left ear.

"SHE HAS GIV-EN ALL OF THE DAL-EKS NAMES!" The while daleks screams. First time I'm heard her speak. Definitely a she, higher voice than the others. "I AM SNOW-BALL!"

"What?" The Doctor asks.

Blue moves forward an inch. "BLUE"

"RED" Red screams as he also moves forward.

"I swear, if I catch on fire I'm going to be so mad." I tap Midnight's, very happy to not be on fire. "And this here is Midnight. He just doesn't want to admit it."

The Doctor paces around us, looking at each dalek and then to me.

My stomach growls loudly. And I mean, loud enough that Midnight turns to look my stomach. Almost knocking me out in the process.

"THE HU-MAN IS HUN-GRY! MUST FIND SUS-TEN-ANCE!" Red begins moving around the room, obviously not knowing what to look for. This sends three of them, because Midnight is too good to look for food, into a mini panic. "LOCATE! LOCATE!"

I roll my eyes as I make my way to a swivel chair. I turn to see Rose and the man, who I think is called Mickey, following me. They eye a mummified body on the ground. That must have caused the screams from earlier. And the other bodies scattered around the room.

The Doctor watches all of this with fascination, a light dancing in his chocolate eyes. When they fall on me, I feel the air shift in the room. Like the crackle of air before a storm.

The Doctor takes a chair, plopping himself down beside me. "Who are you? Really, who are you really?"

A smile finds its way on my face. "I could ask you the same thing, Doctor." I take his hand. "I'm not angry with what you had to do. I feel... I feel sad that you've lost everyone."

He shifts, his gaze flickering to the daleks, still searching for something for me to eat. The Doctor brings out an instrument with a blue light that makes an annoying electronic sound. The light moves up and down, scanning me. He looks at me again, before reaching into his coat pocket and revealing a pack of peanut butter crackers.

Which was all well great... until the door exploded.

"Delete! Delete!"


	4. Chapter 4

Author Note: There is dialogue taken directly from a transcript of the "Doomsday" episode in this chapter that I do not own. It belongs to Russell Davies. I can't exactly cite (site?) the dialogue that I am simply using in this chapter so I'm doing it here. I do not own Doctor Who!

"Delete! Delete!"

The Doctor jumps up. "Right! We seem to have another issue." He looks at Mickey and Rose as he says one word: "Cybermen."

The Doctor pulls me out of my chair, barely giving me time to grab my bag. He pulls Mickey and Rose to him as I secure my bag on my shoulders, standing just a few feet away from the three.

Four Cybermen mechanically stomp into the room. Their silver bodies and actions reminding me of soldiers. Their faces void of any distinguishing features, like colored eyes or freckles. Instead, they have a line for a mouth and layered metal for eyes. They seem void of emotion, yet strike fear into the three around me as they continually march into the room.

I should be afraid, but as I am eating my peanut butter crackers, I feel oddly at ease. Until Red and the others turn to me then back to the metal men.

"PRO-TECT A-MAN-DA!" Red screams.

What, what? Is that... worry I hear?

Within seconds, the four Daleks surround me in a square. Midnight hovers between me and the Cybermen. "I-DEN-TI-FY YOUR-SELF!"

"That's the Cyberleader," the Doctor explains. He puts himself between them and Rose. Not Mickey, he seem able to handle himself with his gun locked and loaded.

The leader of the Cybermen stomps forward. "You will identify first."

"STATE YOUR I-DEN-TI-TY!" Blue screams.

"You will identify first." The Cyberleader repeats.

Blue repeats as well. "I-DEN-TI-FY!"

Ugh, this could be awhile. As they go back and forth, I bring the Doctor, Rose, and Micky into my square of protection.

"It's like Stephen Hawking meets the Speaking Clock." Micky mumbles. I know he isn't talking to me, but I can't help snort quietly. That was funny, considering our circumstances.

The Doctor puts a protective arm around Rose. The two exchange words and for a brief moment, I watch their faces. The Dcotor seems concerned and worried. Rose looks at him with such love that she practically has heart eyes forming.

They love each other. How did I not see it sooner?

He brings out 3-D glasses, studying ne. "How long did you travel with them?" He looks down at his own hand before taking off the glasses like he must have done a thousand times.

I tare my eyes away from the metal men. "What? Oh, um, I don't know. Felt like a day or two." I shrug, casting my gaze to Red for the answer. "Long enough for me to get hungry anyway."

"ONE HUN-DRED YEARS!" Red answers as he continuously watches Midnight and the Cyberleader.

"What?!" The Doctor and I ask.

Well, I guess that makes sense. I couldn't tell if it was night or day in that blasted orb. My stomach must have been the main timeline while sleep suppressed the hunger. Now that I've traveled a bit, I can plan ahead. Get snacks, plan meals and stops, pack more rope and random things to use, etc.

I shake my head. I'll have to think about that later.

The Cyberleader begins to become perturbed. Same as Midnight. "That answer is illogical. You will modify."

"DAL-EKS DO NOT TAKE OR-DERS!" Blue shouts.

I facepalm. Way to go Blue, you just told him who you are.

If a Cybermen could look smug, the Cyberleader would definitely have a smug grin. "You have identified as Daleks."

Midnight hovers closer to the Cybermen. I can feel our formed square tighten. "OUT-LINE RE-SEMBLES THE IN-FER-IOR SPE-CIES KNOWN AS CY-BER-MEN."

The two species stare at each other. Red turns his attention away from the stand off to face me. Without saying anything, the middle capsule of his body opens, revealing a purple splat with an eyeball in the middle and tentacles.

Is this what he really looks like? Gotta be honest... he's kinds gross.

Red reaches towards me. I look back to the stand off. They don't seem to notice us. I take Red's tentacle. It's slimy, but I'm actually touching him, not some metal armor. His golden eye looks at me with something I can't place. Longing? Pain? Something. That's when I notice that balancing perfectly on the tentacle next to the one I'm holding are three gold orbs and a bracelet. They look like the panels each of the Daleks have. Although these are more rustic, with the orbs a dull gold instead of a black or silver, they're beautiful nonetheless.

I gasped as I take them from Red so he can close his capsule. The two orbs appear to be ear rings. The other a regular ring. Slipping on the bracelet on my right hand, and the ring on my left ring finger, I watch as the bracelet adjusts to my wrist. That's some "Back to the Future" stuff right there.

I turn my attention back to the two groups as I slip on the ear rings.

"Cybermen plus Daleks." The Cyberleader says. "Together, we could upgrade the Universe."

Blue looks at Midnight before looking back to the Cyberleader. "YOU PRO-POSE AN ALL-I-ANCE?"

"That is correct."

Oh heck no.

Pushing through Rose and Mickey, I tap Midnight and Blue on their shells. "You better not."

It's Blue's turn to look smug. "RE-QUEST DE-NIED!"

Ah yeah! That's my baby!

The Cybermen start to ready their weapons. Hey, wait a minute... what? They're going to attack?! What kind of bull is this?

"Hostile elements will be deleted!" The Cyberleader states clearly. They begin to shoot at us. Somehow the Daleks protect us in this tightly nit square.

"EX-TERM-IN-ATE!" Snowball screams.

"Daleks, be warned." The Cyberleader growls. "You have declared war upon the Cybermen."

I shrug. I'm sure worse has happened... right?

"THIS IS NOT WAR." Midnight smirks. "THIS IS PEST CON-TROL!"

I slap my hand over my mouth. Burn!

"We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?" The Cyberleader asks. I picture him narrowing his eyes.

"FOUR!" Midnight states proudly.

"You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?"

I picture Midnight rolling his eyes. "WE WOULD DE-STROY THE CY-BER-MEN WITH ONE DAL-EK!" He hovers another inch closer. "YOU ARE SU-PER-IOR IN ONLY ONE RE-SPECT."

"What is that?" The Cyberleader and I ask at the same time.

Midnighy growls. "YOU ARE BETTER AT DYING!"

"Dang, Midnight!" I laugh as Midnight shoots the Cyberleader, "Get it!"

The Cybermen were not laughing however. One takes a threatening step towards us. One shift of the laser, Midnight brings him down.

The other Daleks follow, shooting any Cybermen that step towards us, specifically me, or inside the room. The Doctor and I watch with fascination. The Cybermen fire back, of course, but nothing touches us. It's almost as if my Daleks have a force field protecting them.

That's convenient.

We being moving, the Doctor grabs my hand, yanking me along with him, Rose, and Mickey. At the touch of his hand, I feel the turn of the Earth and the weight of gravity. It's an amazing feeling, really, but it's odd. I look down at our hands before shaking my head.

Staying in the square, we make it to the door. Snowball stops at the door, allowing our square to open enough for us to get off if we need to.

"YOU MUST GO!" Snowball screams over the sound of the lasers. "WE MUST PRO-TECT THE GEN-ES-IS ARK. YOU MUST PRO-TECT A-MAN-DA, DOC-TOR!"

My eyes snap to Red, who isn't even paying attention to me. His fire engine red exterior is focused on the battle at hand, instead of facing me. It's the equivalent of him having his back to me. I keep staring at his back, begging him in my mind to turn around. I need to know that he wants me to go somewhere safe. If he does, I'll go. If he doesn't, I'm staying with him.

Look at me Red. Look at me!

Why won't he look at me?

I feel the Doctor take my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "We have to go. I have to figure out a way to stop this."

I look to Red one more time. He doesn't turn around, but I watch the lights flash once. "Go."

I can't help but feel like I have been hit in the stomach. My eyes flick back and forth between Red and the Doctor. Suddenly, my legs throw me forward and I feel the familiar heat of Red's exterior. I try my hardest to hug him as he continues to NOT LOOK AT ME and keep away the Cybermen that are coming closer.

"Bye Red." I croak. "Bye Midnight, bye Blue, Snow."

No matter how hard I try, I can't fight back tears. I've never been able to hold back my emotions, this time is no different. When I unwrap myself from Red, I keep my head down, which is hard to do when gravity pulls my tears down and I have to run away from the Cybermen.

Rose takes my hand, her face sad but understanding. I feel her pull me along into a sprint down a long hallway, around multiple corners, up at least three flights of stairs, until I come face to face with the Doctor's back. I use this break to wipe my face and catch my breath. My lungs burn from the amount of running I've just done. Crying doesn't exactly help any.

"You'll be alright, yeah?" Rose tells me through deep breaths. She hasn't let go of my hand. "He- He just wanted to keep you safe."

My stomach still feels like I've been sucker punched. Reaching up, I push the heel of my hand against my eyes, hoping desperately that this is a dream. If this is a dream, I'll wake up to find myself still curled against Red. He wouldn't really send me away... would he?

Tears blind my vision again. "No, no, he- he wouldn't- he wouldn't..." I bury my head in her shoulder, allowing myself to brake.

I haven't been with him long. In that sphere time passed like that blink of an eye, but if it was really a hundred years, it would explain why we've gotten so close.

But that still doesn't explain why he sent me away. I could help! I want to help!

Give me a sandwich and a laser gun! Give me something to do!

Rose wraps her arms around me, doing her best to calm me down. All I want to do, more than anything, is to run to Red or Midnight. Midnight has not been but so much of a pain. Red... I- I can't right now.

"Doctah, what are we gon do? We can't just leave her." Rose pulls away from me and wipe my eyes. "Shh, it will be alright."

My eyes lock with her's. For a moment, just a brief moment, I swear I could hear the gears click in her head.

Her eyes snap to the Doctor. I turn my attention to him and Mickey. The same realization hits them.

Only Mickey is brave enough to say the words out loud. "You love him. You love that thing."

"He's not a thing!" I shout. "Yes, he's a Dalek. Yes, he's killed a lot of people, but with me... with me... I don't know." I start pacing around the small office we've migrated to. "Red is just different with me, okay?!"

I wrap my filthy green shirt tighter around me. When Red first came, I simply threw this on. Now, after our time together, the stained jeans and shirt have become worn. I really need a shower. I really want a sandwich. I need some time for personal hygiene and a change of clothes, but I don't have time for that right now.

My feet ache as the unused muscles scream in protest to all this running. Just as I sit in an abandoned chair, I feel a heavy weight smack ny head.

I hear shouting before everything fades to black.


	5. Chapter 5

Oh, my head hurts. The blood pounds in my head as I try desperately to unglue my eyes by force. The white wall I find myself staring at is blinding in itself, but that doesn't compare to the noise that consciousness brings.

"You need to calm down, sir." I hear someone say loudly, but calmly. "I did what I felt I had to do."

"Calm down?!" A man yells. "You knocked her out! What- What did she ever do to you?"

Wait, I know that voice! What was his name again? Oh!

"Doc-tor," I moan, rolling on my side.

The Doctor rushes to me. He scoops me in his arms, the sound of his suit rustling with his movements. "I'm here. Someone had to go and knock you out."

Struggling, I try to pull myself into a sitting position. Until I find that I'm handcuffed to something. My wrists are pinched together.

A pathetic "Ow" falls from my lips.

"Right, hold on." The Doctor unravels one of his arms from around me. An electronic buzzing sounds fills my ears. "There," he sighs as he releases my hands.

I chuckle as I use his assistance to sit up. Now that I'm not seeing just a blurry outline and a very bright wall, I take in my surroundings.

"I don't think Red will be too happy to hear about this." I chuckle as I rub the back of my head. Everywhere I touch causes me to wince, but at least my vision is clearing. "I'll make sure he doesn't exterminate you."

Rose is still here, talking to an older woman, who both look like they want to deck someone in the face. Mickey is studying his gun, although it wasn't much help earlier. Finally my eyes go to the Doctor. His childish, yet flirting, smile meets a grimace from me.

"Who knocked me out?" I ask openly as I try to stay upright.

"I did. My name is Yvonne Hartman. And how was I supposed to know?" Another woman walks to me. Her black skirt and U-cut top suggest she's a business woman. Probably someone working here. "You came through with the ghosts and those... things. I assumed you were one of them. Your purple skin doesn't exactly help."

Purple skin? I glance down to my arms to find the the arteries and veins in my arms are now visible, making my skin appear to be a light purple. I turn my hand over to see the same thing as I move my fingers in a wave motion, watching the bones in my hand dance.

Taking in a deep breath, I imagine all the purple in my body coming to my center. As I release the air, I imagine all the color covering me evenly. I don't know why I do this, but it works. Instead of looking like a purple spider web got all over me, my skin color is more even, a light shade of purple.

Instead of an uncomfortable sludge of blood pulsing through my veins, everything feels natural.

"Hold on," I cut her off before she says anything else, "you saw me and just randomly thought 'Should I ask who she is?', 'Should I wait to see if she's dangerous?' No, you just thought, 'Nah! I'm just gonna knock her out just for the fun of it!' How stupid is that?" I tilt my head side to side. "This is why I don't like people."

Rose points to her hair, "Also, your hair changed while you were out. But who are they, Doctor? I thought Daleks were silver and gold?"

"They're called the Cult of Skaro, they're Superior Daleks. Eldest Daleks, some of the first, I believe. Made by the Emperor himself to have the Daleks think and defeat enemies easier." The Doctor explains. "They're also higher ranking, which is why they have names. Not the ones that Amanda has given them, but real names."

While he is explaining, I reach up to find my red velvet hair is not in a tangled bun like it was when I was getting hot in the sphere. Now sections of my hair have clumped together in long rows. It looks and feels like I took hair gel or paint and made sections of my hair stay together.

This is cool, but kind of gross.

"What's happening to me, Doctor?" I ask, my voice surprisingly calm. I look up to see him staring at my hair and my skin.

His fingers dance along my face, tracing the veins down to my neck. When he stops, he cups my neck to gently turn my head.

"Ouch!" He exclaims as he shakes his hand. "Are those the ear rings that Red gave you?"

I reach up, running my fingers along the rusted metal. "Yeah, he also gave me the bracelet and ring. Why?"

The Doctor takes my hand, studying the bracelet and ring without touching them. He scans my hand before looking at me again.

"What?" He exclaims, tapping his device against his hand, "That's not possible!"

"What is it Doctor?" Rose asks as she comes to us. She crouches down to look at me, her eyebrows scrunching together.

The Doctor looks at me. "The jewelry Red gave her is made of Dalek panels. Somehow it's making her part Dalek."

Rose looks at me. "What, like a Human Dalek?"

"Emphasis on Human," the Doctor says nodding as he stands, beginning to pace. "But why? What for? Why would they-?" The Doctor stops. "They're attached! Brilliant! Amanda, I need your help."

I look back and forth between the two of them. First they talk about me like I'm not sitting in front of them. Now he's asking for my help?

"Wait, how and why?" I ask, yanking my hand away from Rose, who was studying my bracelet. Who is he to be so rude then act so nicely? "You and the Daleks have been at war for years. Now that I'm close to them you want my help?"

"The panels must be changing your DNA into something like the Dalek's actual body. You have armor with the jewelry. Your hair is becoming like their tentacles." The Doctor ruffles his hair. "Exactly!" He drops down in front of me. "Down in the room we came to a- to a truths. Not an official one, but to protect you, we were working together. Don't you see, Amanda? Red must have given this to you so you can protect yourself."

I shake my head. "No, not really."

"Oh you are brilliant, you are!" The Doctor carefully plants a kiss on my forehead before yanking me to my feet. "The Daleks have found a human that they don't want to kill. That has never happened before. Never! So you can help me protect these people, here, and destroy the Cybermen!"

He's practically bouncing now. The Doctor rushes to the the lady in the business dress and explains something to her like a kid on Christmas morning. Rose, on the other hand, is still studying me, as if I'm a cell under a microscope. She's nice about it, but something about her gaze is really creeping me out.

Before I can ask what she is looking at, the Doctor calls her over.

How am I supposed to help him? Tell the Daleks to destroy just the Cybermen? How?

Testing my foothold, I grab the wall for support as I begin walking. "You want to explain what exactly I'll be doing? Also, I need a shower and a sandwich."

The blonde woman Rose was speaking to steps up. "I'll take you somewhere, sweetheart, while they figure out what to do."

"Be careful mum!" Rose calls as the woman directs me out of the room.

The Doctor, who was previously bouncing from computer to computer stops. His young face, so serious yet there is a light in his eye. "Jackie, take her to the TARDIS. There's a bathroom, a wardrobe, even a kitchen. Let her freshen up."

I nod to the Doctor, but before I leave, I untuck his tie for leverage. Pulling his close, I look into his eyes.

"If I come back and Red and the others are gone, I will end you." I growl. "Got it?"

"Good, yeah, very very good." He says, as I release him.

With that, I turn on my heel, careful not to fall flat on my face, and walk to this "TARDIS" with the woman named Jackie.

This place is huge! I mean, really, the yellow walls that look a bit like a hive overwhelms you when you first walk in. This place is big enough to make your head spin.

Finding the kitchen was hard enough, but that Turkey sandwich was totally worth it. My belly is happy now.

But the bathroom.

Two words: master bath. The mahogany walls, the rain-like shower head, not to mention the relaxing and cleansing soap. The white marble countertop stocked with colorful towels and facecloths. This bathroom has everything!

I try not to look at myself in the mirror until I'm done with my shower. It's slightly difficult to do as I peel my previous clothes off, but it's worth it. My hair, still in dirty, mangled rows, is such a pain to wash that I end up having to get Jackie to help me wash it in the sink before I even step into the shower. When I stand under the shower head, the water washes away all of the dirt and sweat today has brought.

I begin to scrub my arms, watching the dirt mixed with water run down my body into the drain. The loofah I managed to find works wonders as I exfoliate my skin. Yet as relaxing as all of this is... I can't help but think of Red and the others.

They're fighting the Cybermen for their lives- for me. And what am I doing? Getting lunch and a shower.

Shaking my head, I turn up the heat of the water, allowing it to slightly burn my skin. Hot water relaxes me, and right now I need it more than ever.

I abruptly cut the water off and search for my towel. The softness reminds me of home, which brings a pain to my heart. Drying myself, I glance at the mirror that I've been avoiding. I take a deep breath as I wipe the steam away from the mirror with my hand.

My reflection shows my green eyes now have golden flecks in them. Like Red's eye. His eye was golden. My flattened dark red hair is now in clumps from the water. I search to find a brush to quickly yank through my hair before it dries. If my untamed curls become clumped together again I'll lose my mind.

"Amanda," Jackie calls, "your clothes are sitting outside the door."

I study my reflection a bit longer until I unwrap myself. My stomach is nowhere near flat, but each love handle shines proudly as I study myself. I can see my veins and arteries again. This time it isn't sluggish. It actually brings a neat design to my skin. The contrast of my light purple skin tone and dark red hair makes an interesting look.

For once, I'm comfortable in my own skin. The Doctor was right, Red has given me the ultimate protection: becoming like a Dalek.

When I open the door, the cool air hits me, causing goosebumps to form. I reach out to find some black leggings, a pale pink tank top, a floral patterned pullover, and a matching underwear set.

A few minutes pass when I finally emerge from the bathroom. Jackie is leaning against the wall, looking worried. She must be thinking about Rose, just like I'm thinking about Red.

"Jackie," I ask, as she brings her head up, "would you braid my hair? Maybe that will keep my hair from tangling again."

She nods her head and motions me to sit down. Her fingers gently weave through my hair until my thick hair is pulled back into two French braids. I thank her as we go back to the main part of the TARDIS.

I don't know what to expect when I walk out the doors. Will the Doctor expect me to control the Daleks? What's Red doing right now? Is he ok?

Jackie and I quickly sprint back to the area we previously left. Reaching the door, I see the one thing I didn't expect to see: Red destroy a Cybermen and turn his laser on me and Jackie.

"Red?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Red?" I ask as my heart jumps into my throat.

"EX-TERM-IN-ATE!" Red screams, aiming at Jackie.

I jump in front of Jackie, blocking her from Red. "No! Red, she's a friend!" My heart pounds as I repeat, "She's a friend."

The sound of stomping causes us to spin around as a Cybermen comes around the corner. "Delete! Delete!"

Just as Jackie opens her mouth to scream, I yank Jackie down to the floor. The impact hurts my leg, but it's better than a laser to the face.

Red roars, "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" while sending a laser beam above us, into the Cybermen chest.

The Cybermen explodes into chunks of metal as Jackie and I cover our heads to protect ourselves from the burning metal. I even shriek a little.

Red's eye stalk zooms in towards me as we stand. "A-MAN-DA? THE DOC-TOR SHOULD BE KEEP-ING YOU SAFE!"

"It's alright." I take Jackie's hand, pulling her with me as I walk to Red. "The Doctor, he, uh, he- he is. He is keeping me safe. I just, uh, I just got a quick shower. I'm about to gi to where he is. What- What are you doing here?"

"I WAS LOOK-ING FOR YOU," he says weakly, moving his eye stalk to look at the ground. "I... WANT... YOU... SAFE..."

I'm close enough now to run my hand along his exterior, I reach out to him. We've only been away for about an hour, but it feels like longer. Maybe that's because I miss him. Or maybe it has something to do with time travel.

He moves to meet my hand, so I can cup his eye stalk with my hand. There are many things he does that have a human equivalent. This is the equivalent of him leaning into my touch so I can lift his face.

My voice is just above a whisper. "I'm safe, Red. You made sure of that with the jewelry, didn't you?" My stomach clenches as I look at him. Jackie must think I've gone crazy, but knowing that he's safe is relieving to say the least. "Hey, can you come with us? We're going to see the Doctor. I think I know a way we can defeat the Cybermen."

Red turns in the direction we were headed. He hovers beside us as we weave through the hallways. If he was a human, I would hold his hand, but I can't exactly do that unless I tangle my finger in the laser that he may use again. Instead I climb up his back shell. Sitting on top of him, as if I am taking my seat on the throne, I swing myself around so that I'm sitting in between the lights and my legs are draped on both sides of his eye stalk. I had offered Jackie my spot on his head, but she declined, saying she would rather walk.

Finally we enter the large area where the Doctor is. Multiple guns aim at us as soldiers stand ready to fire at us, awaiting orders from Mickey or the Doctor.

"Hold your fire!" The Doctor calls, holding his arms out. "Amanda, I have a plan."

I swing myself around, sliding off Red like a kid's slide. "So do I. Who goes first?"

"A-MAN-DA!" Red exclaims.

I chuckle. "Okay. I was thinking: the Genesis Ark. There are millions of Daleks packed in there. If we let them out then either Midnight or Red could give them the order to only harm the Cybermen, not the people." I dance around Red as I explain, giddy with excitement. As I say the last sentence, I look at Red instead of the Doctor. "Then, maybe, we could find somewhere to go."

I'm not sure why, but Red turns towards the door. Maybe he hears another Cybermen? I would think he would he happy about my offer. We could go somewhere... together.

"I'm sorry, 'we'?" The Doctor asks, scratching his head, bringing my attention to him. "What do you mean by 'we'?"

I smile brightly, "The Daleks and I can go somewhere to rebuild. Create a new empire." I twist my fingers together in nervousness. "There has to be some place or planet that is uninhabited that we can go, right? What do you think, Doctor; will it work?"

The Doctor scratches the back of his neck again. "Well..." his head dips to the left before his eyebrows raise. "Actually, that's- that's brilliant! Hold on, I was just going to open the void, and you know, suck them into oblivion and be done with it."

Red's body spins around suddenly, actually smacking me in the head. "DO IT!"

I stumble towards the Doctor, rubbing my head. "Geeze, Red! Watch where you swing that thing." The Doctor catches me in his arms so I don't fall. That's the second time I've been hit in the head today.

"I A-POL-O-GIZE!" Red yelps as he moves back.

Finding my balance again, my feet move me forward. I place myself between the plunger and the laser, wrapping my arms around him in a front wards hug. "It's okay, you big goof. Hurt like the Dickens, but it's okay." I place my lips on the shell side of his eye slak. "I've missed you."

Red doesn't reply. He freezes until I back away from him. I guess he isn't used to someone kissing him? I chuckle at his reaction.

"Go get the Ark, Red." I shoo him away.

"I OBEY!" He screams, quickly hovering out the room. Bless his heart, he acts like an awkward twelve year old.

I rush to the doorway, leaning out, I call after him. "And tell Midnight, Snow, and Blue to come with you!"

"I OBEY!"

Turning my attention back to the others, I notice the range of emotions on everyone's face. The Doctor tries not to look at me, but he can't hide the smile that forms when he looks in my direction. He starts working on something with the computers. Mickey looks disgusted, but that's understandable. Jackie and the rest of the outsiders look incredibly confused. Although poor Jackie looks more like she is about to faint.

Rose glances down to the floor then back to me. An understanding gleam fills her eyes. "You really love him, don't you?"

My own gaze finds its way from her to the Doctor. "It- It isn't… I don't know. I think I do. He cares so much…" I rub a hand over my face. Thinking back to how hurt I was to leave him, how we clicked when he crashed through my apartment door, how I hate to see him go, I realize my actual answer. "Yeah, I do."

A few minutes pass before I hear the angry screams of my Daleks. Red comes in first, pushing the Genesis Ark in front of him. Midnight follows him, leaving Snow and Blue in the hallway.

"Ok, everyone, against the wall!" I call, using my arms to guide them. The people do as they're told, although they leave their gun focused on us. "I'm gonna need some space!"

Red pushes the Ark to me as Midnight yells, "A-MAN-DA WILL OPEN THE ARK! THE DAL-EKS WILL OBEY THE EM-PRESS!"

I turn my gaze to the Doctor. What does he mean Empress? As if reading my mind, the Doctor carefully walks around the Daleks, who are still shooting Cybermen coming down the hallway. His brown eyes search mine as he comes closer. He must think I'm crazy. Who wouldn't? There's no telling if this will even work. What if it doesn't; what will we do then?

"Their attachment isn't one of friendship, Amanda. Red loves you, that much is clear, and the Emperor is dead. If the one you call Midnight is putting you in charge... they think you're brilliant. Which you are, of course." He looks over his shoulder to Red and the others. "Place your hand on the Ark. Give them the order immediately."

I nod my head. Here goes nothing.

When my hand touches the metal of the Ark, my hand burns. I yank it away, pulling it to my chest, before the Ark flies through the ceiling, into the sky.

Quickly, I run to Red. After I'm situated on his head again, he follows the Ark, which is spitting out Daleks constantly. I hang on tightly to him as we soar through the air. One after the other, in every direction, a new Dalek appears.

"Daleks!" I call to them. A heavy gust of wind blows as more than a dozen eye stalks are turn to me. I grab onto Red to keep myself from trembling.

"WE DO NOT LIST-EN TO HU-MANS!" A Dalek exclaims. "YOU WILL BE EX-TERM-IN-ATED!"

I clench my teeth. "As your Empress, I order you shut up, because I- AM- TALKING!" The Daleks fully turn to me. "Now, your order is to exterminate the Cybermen only! Not humans! Is that clear?"

"WE OBEY!" The chorus of Daleks scream in response.

"Get to it then! Go all of over the world and come back here!"

Immediately they set off. I tap Red's head, signalling him to take me back down. My descent to Earth allows me to watch the world below as the storm of lasers rain down. Left and right Cybermen fall, resulting in a wide smile from me. Sure, my Daleks could have obliterated the Cybermen, but it's much more fun to call in the troops.

Finally I am on solid ground again. Multiple arms wrap around me in joy. Cheers explode in my ears as we watch on a wide screen what I saw outside. I send my Daleks out as well, watching them sore off into the sky to do what they do best. Yes, there is smoke rising from houses and streets. Yes, there is chaos everywhere, but humans are not being targeted like they could be- like they were when the Cybermen roamed the streets.

The Doctor is even watching in astonishment.

He catches my eye. "Their home planet will hold you." I raise my eyebrows in response to him, waiting for him to continue. "Before and during the Time War the planet was abandoned. I'll have to take you there, but if you want to rebuild, that's the place to go."

I quickly look around before I place a kiss on the Doctor's cheek. "Thank you," I whisper.

We can rebuild. The Dalek Empire can now restart as something better. If they are led by me, I can teach them good things humans can do. I can be with Red openly and have him with me everyday. I can learn things from the Daleks.

They can start over.

Suddenly everything is quiet. The Doctor and I shush everyone as we listen. A mechanical whirring fills the room, revealing Midnight.

"THE CYBER-MEN HAVE BEEN EX-TER-MIN-ATED!" He screams proudly, "A-WAIT-ING OR-DERS!"

I scream in delight with a joyful dance. It worked! I can't believe it worked!

Cheers fill the room like a football game stadium. I rush to the Doctor, spinning him in a hug. "That was awesome!"

"THE EM-PRESS WILL CEASE PHYS-I-CAL IN-TER-ACT-ION WITH THE DOC-TOR!" Red exclaims as he approaches the two of us. I roll my eyes as I release the Doctor.

So Red is the jealous type, noted. To make him feel better, I place a kiss on the blue part of his eye stalk.

The celebration is short lived, however, when the army of Daleks make their presence known on the video screen. Rows upon rows of Daleks stand in the streets, simply waiting.

The Doctor's face becomes serious. "They're waiting for orders, Amanda. These are fighting Daleks waiting for orders. They're fighting every primal urge they have not to go killing everything in site because they see you as a higher authority." He takes my shoulders, looking at me with such emotion that I can't help but give him a small smile. "Are you sure you want to go with them?"

My eyes flicker to the Daleks that are lined up in the sky and on the ground below. Can I lead an army? Will they accept a human as their leader? Granted, right now, my skin is fluctuating between light violet and my normal skin tone, I'm not exactly human anymore. The Doctor did say I was becoming like them... But I've never led a group of more than ten people before. I'm not sure I can do it.

I turn my head towards Red. He doesn't have any facial expressions for me to go by, but I'm sure he is confident in me. If he thinks I can do this, then I know I can.

"I'm sure. I'll need help, of course, but that's where Red comes in." I walk to Red, who is staring at the screen, before he slowly turns his eye stalk to look at me. He deliberately backs away to look at me before he moves forward again. Probably doesn't want to smack me in the head again. How sweet. "We can do it; right Red?"

"A-FFIRM-A-TIVE!" Red answers, sending up a jumbled chorus of "A-FFIRM-A-TIVE's" from the other three.

The Doctor sticks his hands in his pockets as he gathers the group together. "Well!" He claps his hands together. "In that case, go home Daleks. Go back to Skaro."

"BUT IT WAS DE-STROYED IN THE TIME WAR," Blue states. "WE CAN-NOT RE-TURN!"

I shake my head, looking at the Doctor. "No, we can, because if I understand correctly then it was just abandoned. We can go there to rebuild."

The Doctor nods his head, making a show of his hair bouncing. "Leave here and go home. If I see any Dalek, I'll send them your way."

I steal a glance at Red before I run to the Doctor for one last hug. I wrap my arms around him so tightly I hear his spine pop.

Oops.

And so we're off. I call the army back into the Genesis Ark, which results with a few complaints. The Daleks and I climb back into the sphere, ready to settle for our journey. I grab a pillow and blanket from a random closet in the building. Adjusting, I set my belongings beside me, playing with the beads on my old bag.

Rose previously loaded my bag with snacks, hygiene items, and bottles of water. She said that she wasn't sure how long the travel would be, bless her heart. The Doctor, pops his head into the sphere to give us instructions on how to get to their home planet, then tosses me another bag.

The worn leather strap shows the bag's age, but other than the belt buckle on the front, there isn't much to the bag. It looks empty. Upon looking in the bag, I realize he basically gave me a Mary Poppins bag. It's filled with a variety of clothes, more hygiene items, dry powder foods for meals, water, even a flashlight!

I look up to say a quick thank you, but by that time the sphere is closing. Once again I'm engulfed in darkness. I'm ready now. I'm ready for whatever lies ahead. More importantly, I'm ready to start this new journey of Empress of the Daleks.

How cool is that?!

~Author's Note: In no way is this story finished! We're just getting to the good part. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think of the story so far. I love reading comments. Stay with me, because it's about to get good real quick!


	7. Chapter 7

~Author's note: Again, to have somewhat accurate dialogue, I am taking dialogue from a transcript of the show. I do not own some of this dialogue. It belongs to the Doctor Who TV show. Enjoy.

This sucks... Oh my goodness, having to sit in the dark and just wait while we go to this new planet is so boring. Sure, I can talk to Red and them, but I want to see this new place already! Actually I just want to see in general. This darkness is throwing my eyes out of whack.

Gosh, but how long does it take to get to a new planet?

Luckily, I've had time to get to know Blue and Snowball. Since we haven't talked much, it's nice to have a bit of girl time. We talked- well, I talked, they screamed- about life on our planets. Apparently Skaro has become a wasteland now.

Stupid radiation, always messing things up.

Actually, back up, supposedly there was another group that lived on the planet, but they tangled with the Daleks. The Daleks released the radiation, which made the planet a wasteland.

During all of this history, Midnight has been trying to teach me how to act like a Dalek. He says that if I'm to be the Empress I have to know the proper way to say sentences, how the Daleks think, how to hold myself, etc. I feel like I'm in something like military boot camp meets The Princess Diaries.

I've hiked the Appalachian Trail with a 15 pound pack and it wasn't as hard as being a Dalek. Both are exhausting. Both require food, which the Doctor and Rose so graciously packed.

Eventually, it came to the point that I gave up. Well, I didn't give up, I just became too stubborn for Midnight. We argued about how I should act and lead the Daleks, quite loudly in fact. These four chose me to become the Empress. They took me for who I am, which is a human. No one should be allowed to change that.

What feels like years pass. My eyes become so heavy that they begin to droop. Reaching into the flimsy leather bag, I pull out the small pillow and blanket that I took from the Torchwood building. (This bag is legit Mary Poppins' bag.)

I curl beside Red again. During this expedition we have developed a routine. I curl against him to sleep, then after eight human hours he wakes me up. It's a good system and has worked very well so far.

"GOOD NIGHT MAN-DY!" Red yells before I drift off into my beautiful oblivion.

Waking up in this blasted sphere sucks. Of course I didn't notice this right away because for a time it was great.

I rub my tired eyes before I roll my blanket into a tight ball around my pillow, stuffing it into my bag. Reaching into the bag Rose packed for me, I retrieve a blueberry muffin flavored powder. It isn't as good as a real blueberry muffin, but it stops the hunger. I even drink a full bottle of water before I notice I'm alone.

They left me... AGAIN?!

Grabbing my bags, I pull them over my shoulders. Anger makes my blood boil. How dare they leave me? More importantly, how dare Red leave me?

I swing my leg toward the edge of the sphere like I'm kicking a soccer ball, only to find a blinding light flood my eyes. I stumble, tripping over my feet, before I fall towards the ground outside of the sphere.

Not my brightest moment.

Blinking multiple times I look at my surroundings. I'm not sure where I am, but it looks like the inside of a tall building. The abandoned workstations, boxes, and metal lying around this area doesn't seem familiar. Then I come face to face with a pig's head and a man's body.

Pigman? Gross, creepy, but cool.

"Hello," I nod to the Pigman. "Would you mind helping me stand?"

The Pigman nods its head while assisting me out of the sphere. It has hands of a human, but the skin of a pig. The rough skin brushes against mine, causing me to glance down at my arm.

I rub my tired eyes with the heel of my hand. My skin is now a deeper purple than last time I saw it. I take several deep breaths to lighten the color of my skin, surprised when it works.

"Can you take me to some angry salt shakers?" I ask the Pigman. "We need to exchange a few words."

The kind Pigman oinks and snorts as a response. His wet snout and head nods as he leads me to an open space. Sure enough, there is my favorite Dalek, Red. The place around him looks like a laboratory, with boiling chemicals and burners.

How can they build anything when all they have is a whisk and a plunger though?

I shake the thought out of my head, resulting in my two braids smacking me in the face. My eyes catch a large machine against the wall as the elevator opens, revealing Blue, Snowball, a man, and Midnight.

I tug the Pigman behind the machine, hiding in the shadows while I watch their exchange.

"I BRING YOU THE HU-MAN," Snowball announces.

A man in a business suit straightens his jacket. "I take it you're in charge?" His accent sounds familiar. Maybe because it's the same one I have. We must be in New York.

"COR-RECT." Red says. "I AM DALEK RED, LEAD-ER OF THE CULT OF SKARO."

I wrinkle my nose. Last time I checked, they made me the one in charge. I begin undoing my braids, mess is about to get real.

The man flashes him what I assume to be a charming smile. "Then, my Lord Red, I am honoured to meet you. Ever since you first made contact with me, transmitting your thoughts into the corners of my mind, tempting me with such images, such ideas. Oh, sir, I'd always dreamt that the-"

"CEASE TALK-ING!" Blue screams.

"I just want to let you know how grateful I am," the man tries again.

A chorus of "CEASE TALK-INGs" erupt.

"I SAID CEASE!" Red barks. "SLAVES, SE-CURE THE HU-MAN!"

Immediately, two different Pigmen grab the man's arms, holding him. The Pigman beside me tries to rush forwards, as well, but I stop him. I'm waiting for the moment to make my entrance.

"But you don't need to do that." The man grunts as he struggles against the Pigmen's grasp. "I'm on your side! I'm working with you. I'm your partner. I'm- I'm your friend."

Snowball moves forwards. "THE CHRO-MA-TIN SOL-U-TION IS READ-Y!"

I scrunch my eyebrows as the scene unfolds. What are they planning to do?

Midnight's head spins a complete 360°. "THEN OUR PREP-AR-A-TIONS ARE COM-PLETE!"

"What are you doing?" The man calls, still struggling. "Preparations for what?" The man, while very handsome is obviously panicking. But panicking or not, we're asking the same questions.

What are they up to?

Red hovers closer to the man, causing him to momentarily stop struggling. "THIS IS THE FI-NAL EX-PER-I-MENT!" Red shouts proudly.

"What- What do you mean? Do you mean like these pig men things?" The man looks at the Pigmen. "You're not going to turn me into one of those. Please- please don't!"

Midnight begins hovering around the group. "THE PIG SLAVES ARE PRIM-ITIVE. THE FI-NAL EX-PER-I-MENT IS GREAT-ER BY FAR!"

"But how does that involve me?" The man asks, genuinely curious.

Red hovers close enough to the man that his eye stalk touches the man's nose. "WE NEED YOUR FLESH. BRING HIM TO ME!"

Oh boy...

This seems like a good time to step in.

"Well," I say, clapping my hands together as I stand from my hiding place, "you're just going to have a party without me? That's very rude."

"YOU WERE SU-PPOSE TO BE A-SLEEP!" Red says bravely.

"Miss," the man calls, "get out of here! They'll kill you! Run!"

I snort, as I walk slowly towards the group, like a predator stalking towards its prey. The man who is still being held continues to pull against his captors restraints. The poor man is going to give out if he keeps on like this.

A smirk plays along my lips. "I don't think that will be a problem." With a wave of my hand, I give the order, "Release him."

Instantly the Pigmen drop their hands from the man. He quickly darts to the elevator, repeatedly pressing the button to open the doors. While he does that, my eyes look to Blue.

She moves away from me, her eye stalk lowered as if she's cowering from me.

Next, I look to Snowball. She does the same.

I turn my attention to Midnight. In doing so, I notice the dust clinging to his black exterior. I wonder if Daleks can collect dust or if it's from the air around him.

Not the time, Mandy.

For several long moments, Midnight holds eye contact with me. I raise my chin and step forward. If I'm really the Empress, he will back down. Not of fear, but of respect. Instantly he moves back. I won.

Now it's Red's turn. I don't bother seeing if he will back down. Stomping towards him, my hand wraps around the eye stalk, giving me the leverage I need to yank him towards me.

"Red," I articulate very carefully, "you left me again. Why?"

"THE FI-NAL EX-PER-I-MENT MUST BE-GIN!" He shouts. "BRING THE HU-MAN!"

The man frantically clicks the elevator button just as a group of people come in. Pigmen once again grab him, dragging him forwards. I roll my eyes as I drop my hand and go to the window across the room. I can't exactly yell at Red for leaving me with all this noise.

"Please!" The man calls, "Don't!"

I glance over my shoulder at the crowd of people. Pulling my ragged wrap around my torso, I nod towards the crowd. "Blue, whatever that is, handle it."

"I OBEY!" She screams as I glance out the window. People shuffle in the streets and on the sidewalks, but there are not as many as when I first left. Odd. "YOU WILL FORM A LINE. MOVE! MOVE!"

"Just do what it says, everyone, okay?" A young woman calls as she backs away to form a line. "Just obey."

"THE FE-MALE IS WISE. OBEY!" Blue continues as she handles the crowd.

I run my hand through my curled hair. I don't know what's going on, but I need to find out.

"THE DALEK-AN-IUM IS IN PLACE. THE EN-ER-GY CON-DUCT-OR IS NOW COM-PLETE." Snowball says as she moves away from machines with Midnight.

Dalekanium? Energy conductor? What have they been up to?

"YOU WILL BEAR WITNESS." Midnight yells as the crowd begins to fight against Blue and the Pigmen.

"To what?" The woman from before asks. "What does that mean?"

Red moves forward. He looks at the crowd before his eye stalk turns to look at me. "WE ARE THE ONLY FOUR DAL-EKS IN EX-IS-TENCE, SO THE SPE-CIES MUST E-VOLVE A LIFE OUT-SIDE THE SHELL."

I raise my eyebrows as I turn away from the window. Outside the shell? How?

Oh crap! They can't... Can they?

"THE CHIL-DREN OF SKAR-O MUST WALK AGAIN!" Red screams as he opens his shell, his purple tentacles wrapping around the man in the business suit from before.

"ENOUGH!" I roar, causing the crowd to notice me for the first time. Red begins to pull the man into his shell. "I- SAID- ENOUGH!"

A lousy thump echoes through the room. The man scrambles away from Red before his frightened face looks at the Pigmen and the other Daleks. Taking his chances, he scrambles towards me in fear.

"Now then," I clench my teeth, "To my lovely audience, please leave. You may use the elevator if you like, but I believe it would best if you left. Now."

Within two minutes, the crowd rushed towards the elevator, leaving the woman with chocolate skin alone. I notice a blur of brown behind her.

"Doctor," I sing. "Please come join us."

The woman looks over her shoulder, following him as he steps out of the shadows is a blonde haired young lady. He is still dressed in his brown trench coat, although now he has on a matching brown suit underneath. The lady has a pink top, jeans, and a light jacket.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" Midnight yells as he whirles to face them.

I hold up my hand. "No." I rub my face. "Rose, Doctor, nice to see you again. You too, lady I don't know. But look, I don't know what is going on here. Would anyone care to explain?"

"My name's Martha," the lady calls.

Red closes his shell as he moves towards me. The man that is still hidden behind me, clings to my pullover in fear. I can feel his fingers dig into my sides as he clings to me. Gently, I pat his hand in the most reassuring was I can manage. Whatever Red was planning to do stops now.

The Doctor scratches his neck. "Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera." He waves sheepishly. "Amanda, Red, the rest of you. Well first off you're in New York."

I raise my eyebrows. "Figured that. Actually, I'm only like a taxi away from home." Playing with the ends of my hair, I try to pace a bit while I add, "There isn't much left of it though. Red kinda obliterated it."

The man behind me hold on to me in place like a child clinging to their mother.

"You lived in New York," the Doctor asks, "in 1930?"

I freeze. Turning on my head slowly, I look at Red. "1930? No, I lived in 2019 New York. Red, why are we here?"

The Doctor shrugs in his brown trench coat as he loops his arms around Martha and Rose. "Seems your boyfriend doesn't want you to know he's up to something."

"Quiet Doctor." I say with a raised finger. "Red?"

The lack of emotions shown with the metal exterior makes my blood boil. No, I mean literally boil, as my skin begins turning a deeper shade of purple. The sludge in my blood thickens as I clench my teeth in anger.

The man yelps in pain as he yanks away from me. It's then I realize my skin is hot to the touch. I'm actually boiling mad.

"Fine," I scoff as I throw my hands in the air, "if you won't tell me, Midnight will."

My attention turns to Midnight, who appears to be watching the situation unfold from the corner across the room. I stomp towards Midnight and the others, causing everyone to practically run away from me.

"THE EM-PRESS IS AN-GRY AND RE-QUEST IN-FORM-ATION. I MUST OBEY!"

From behind me, I feel something on my lower back. I hold up my hand as I turn my head to see Red out of the corner of my eye. Weakly, Red says, "TEM-POR-AL SHI-FT. IT WAS SU-PPOSE TO BE A SUR-PRISE..."

Careful not to hit my face again, I turn towards Red in confusion. I scrunch my eyebrows together, looking from one Dalek to the next.

Red's eye stalk is directly in front of my face. His equivalent to making eye contact, I guess. The dark top of his shell, like Midnight, has dust clinging to it. How long were we in that shell for? What kind of surprise could involve intelligence scans and Red practically eating a guy?

"Oh, that must have roasted up your power cells, huh?" The Doctor mocks. He starts towards the Daleks as he looks around the broken lab. "But what do you mean surprise?"

Red breaks eye contact with me as he turns towards the Doctor. The Doctor causally leans against the lab set up, studying the vials and beakers with his glasses. The liquid boiling and pops around him, making him seem like a mad scientist. The Doctor takes off his glasses as he looks around the room, before putting them back on again.

"Yeah," Rose speaks up as she joins him, "what's Dalekanium and a- what was it?- a Chromatin solution?"

"DALEKS ARE SU-PER-IOR," Red screams in my face, "BUT THIS HU-MAN IS FAR MORE SU-PER-IOR."

Different emotions flash across the faces of people in the room as he continues. I feel my face deepen in color.

Red turns away from the Doctor. "HU-MANS HAVE MANY E-MO-TIONS THAT HELP THEM WIN, BUT I WANT TO BE HU-MAN, SO THAT I CAN RULE WITH MAN-DY."

I feel the floor sway beneath me. I grab the wall to steady myself. "So... So the Dalekanium, Chromatin solution, final experiment, and all of that was so that you could be with me? In a..." Dare I say... "a human body?"

Red doesn't move, so I'm going to take that as a head nod.

My legs feels weak as I hear many feet shuffle towards me. A pair of arms catches me from behind. It's the man from before and Martha.

"Doctor," Martha calls as she examines me, "get some water. I don't want her fainting on us."

I lean against the warm body behind me. This warmth is different than the heat that come off of the Daleks. Their heat is enough to boil you alive. The warmth radiating off of the man behind me makes everything click into place.

Red could... but what about... that's how...

Oh he is clever.

"Doctor!" I say as I sit straight up. "I have an idea!"


	8. Chapter 8

Again, the reactions on the faces around me are shockingly funny. Granted, the worry on Martha's face should concern me. No matter the worry or confusion, the Doctor pushes away his coat as he crouches beside me.

Why are they looking at me like I have three heads?

Oh! My idea, right!

First thing I notice when as he leans towards to hear what I need to tell him is his freckles. Cute little freckles scattered along his face. Second thing I notice... Red begins moving towards me.

Right, right, jealous boyfriend and all. That and I need to focus.

Excitedly I whisper my idea to the Doctor. I don't want Red or the others finding out what I'm planning. We being discussing my idea, the materials needed, and the biggest thing... if it will actually work. If this works, no one has to die. During this time the poor man, whose name I never got, runs out of the room, but I'm not focused on that.

If this works, Red and I can be together. But how will it work? There's no real way for it to. Unless...

"Doctor?" I ask hopeful. "What do you think? Will it work?"

The Doctor fully sits beside me, his eyebrows raised as he drags his hand through his hair and down his face. I can practically hear the gears turning in his head.

He looks at Red. "Don't exterminate me, but I'm going to hug your girlfriend." That's all the warning I get before the Doctor's arms wrap around me along with his lips pressed to my forehead. "You are brilliant, you are!"

I smile as I watch him spring to his feet, running over to the makeshift lab while pulling Rose and Martha along with him. Red's eye zooms towards him, his laser ready to destroy the Doctor before he looks to me.

I snort as I push myself into a standing position. While the Doctor works on this crazy plan, I pull myself onto Red's head. The position has become quite comfortable for me over what feels like a few days. Somehow I know it's more than that.

I supposed Red has never had these types of feelings. I haven't either, really. The only time I'm with anyone everything goes down the drain. Red is something new, something exciting, something dangerous.

A shiver passes through me as I think of what if my idea works, like actually works.

"Amanda?" The Doctor asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Can you come down here please?"

I spin on Red's head, throwing my legs on the right side of Red's eye stalk. "Sure! Catch!"

I push myself off of Red grateful that the Doctor's quick thinking throws him forward to catch me in his arms. Sure, not the smartest way to get down, but it worked.

The Doctor stumbles back as he pulls me against him. "Um," he stutters, "good, yeah, very good."

I can't keep the evil grin from creeping on my lips as I move away from him. Ok, so I did that mainly to make Red jealous, but the look on the Doctor's face... priceless.

"So what's up?" I ask as I glance over my shoulder at Red. His eye stalk is turned towards me with a blank stare. No blinking, no moving, just starring.

Rose shoves a jar into my chest. I didn't even see her approach. "Open the can, let the nanogenes out. Afterwards they'll go back into the jar for us to use." She takes a threatening step towards me. "And do not throw yourself at the Doctor again."

The Doctor, who obviously heard the low threat, backs away slowly to retreat to the lab.

I snort again. So Red's not the only jealous one. Without a snappy comeback, which is a first for me, I release these so-called nanogenes. A yellow cloud engulfs me, causing a tingling sensation to cover me. A mix of a sigh and a hum escapes my lips as the nanogenes go back into the container.

I close the container so I can hand it to Rose. I notice she is a bit larger than the last time I saw her. I don't release the jar when Rose tries to take it.

Instead I pull her towards me. "So," I whisper, "does he know?"

Rose narrows her eyes at me and she tries to yank the jar from my hands. "Know what?"

I look down at her stomach and back to her, my eyebrows raised. The confusion and aggravation in Rose's eyes becomes replaced with understanding as her arms turn limp.

"That's none of your business," she whispers, "... No, not- not with Martha being here and everything. I'm not sure how to tell him."

She yanks the jar from my hands. She wraps her arms around the jar, protecting her stomach. I guess I've been with my Daleks too long, because that is cowardice.

Why is she scared?

Glancing over my shoulder, I watch as Martha helps the Doctor at the lab. Martha's body language of brushing hands with him, standing a bit too close, the idiotic smile on her face...

As if reading our minds, Martha looks in our direction before coming to retrieve the jar. The look of jealousy clouds her eyes as she stares studle daggers into Rose before bouncing back towards the Doctor.

Martha stops halfway back. "Oh, what about the panels that have been added?"

I scrunch my eyebrows, glancing to Red and Midnight. "What panels? What are you planning?"

"THE GREAT-ER IN-TEL-I-GENT ARE TO BE PART OF THE FINAL EX-PER-I-MENT." Midnight explains. "THEY ARE TO BE-COME HU-MAN DAL-EKS!"

I blink. "Come again?"

"Solar flare coming as lightning." the Doctor says as he takes the jar from Martha. "Use lighting to resurrect the corpses."

"How many?" I growl through gritted teeth.

"FIF-TY!" Blue screams as she rolls forwards. "IN ORDER TO BUILD THE DAL-EK RACE A-GAIN!"

I slap my hand on my forehead. Idiots… I live with idiots.

"If you promise no one else will die and you will actually leave this planet, I will help with that as well."

"I promise." I tell the Doctor, raising my eyebrows towards the Daleks, daring them to tell me otherwise.

"When is the solar flare?" The Doctor asks as he works.

"TWEN-TY MINUTES." Red answers.

"Right then," the Doctor says as he rotates his shoulders back, "better get busy."

I nod my head in understanding as I look back at Rose. Poor girl, always running around with the man that has a thousand thoughts and ideas running through his head. My arm finds its way around Rose in a tight hug.

"Just tell him, flat out." I tell her as I gently nudge her towards him. "After we finish here tell him. He may have scatterbrain, but even he is bound to notice eventually."

"Yeah," Rose squeaks as she quickly wipes her eyes. "My mum isn't even here to see this."

I stop walking. "Jackie? Wha- What happened? She was fine when I left!"

Rose wipes her eyes again. "Some friends of mine, they- they came through the void like the Cybermen did at the last minute. Well, my Dad, um, he died in this universe, but was alive in the other universe. My Mum was dead in that universe, so she went with him to his world. Basically my Mum and Dad are together again."

I slowly nod along, not understanding any of what she said. "So she can't come back?"

Rose shakes her head. "No, the Doctor sucked up everything that came through the void as a way of cleaning up the broken Cybermen. We didn't get sucked in because we held on. But, my Mum is kind of... gone."

I know what that's like.

Pulling her into my arms, I rub her back in small circles. Poor Rose. I tighten my hold on her as she cries. This is something the Daleks don't understand- comfort, longing, pain. They say they're all high and mighty, but unless you can empathize with another being, unless you can comfort, rejoice, and cry with another, then you are nothing.

"I did it!" The Doctor exclaims as he bounces towards us. "Well, I think, but oh I'm clever- hold on, what's wrong? Rose?"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrow as he passes me a watch and a colored solution in a glass beaker. He pulls Rose into his arms, his chin resting on her head, whispering quite words to her. After a short period, Rose wipes her eyes as she breaks away from him.

Guess she didn't tell him yet.

"So?" I ask as I rub my thumb along the watch. "How does it work?"

The Doctor takes in a deep breathe through his nose, puffing out his chest like a lion. "Well, for that, I need a volunteer."

I cut my eyes to Red. In the moment that it would take for him to catch a breathe, Snowball pushes towards.

"I WOULD LIKE TO OFF-ER MY SER-VIC-ES TO THE EM-PRESS!"

I blink rapidly, tilting my head. "Sorry, what? Snow? You want to volunteer?"

"AFF-IR-MA-TIVE!"

"Why?" I ask, passing the Doctor the watch.

Snowball looks to the Doctor, to me, until she rotates her eye stalk to Red. "THE EM-PRESS MUST BE HAP-PY. I SERVE THE EM-PRESS."

The Doctor steps forward. "This hasn't been tested yet. Snow, was it? If you volunteer... you could die."

"AFF-IR-MA-TIVE!" Snow says as she raises her eye stalk.

"You would die for your Empress?" The Doctor and I ask at the same time.

I take the child watch from his hand as I walk forwards three simple steps towards Snowball. "You really would die for me?"

"AFF-IR-MA-TIVE!" Snowball repeats. "DAL-EKS DO NOT FEAR DEATH. RE-QUEST IN-FOR-MATION ON PRO-CE-DURE!"

The Doctor scratches the back of his neck. "That's just it. I don't have any information to give. From what I can tell you put it on, select the time length you want and wait."

I rub my fingers along the rim of the watch, studying it closely. The outer cover is black without a glass piece to protect the inside. Its hands unmoving, stuck on the number 12.

"You made it just how I told you?" I ask the Doctor without looking up.

"Yes, but-"

I straighten my back. "Then I know what to do. I just don't know how it will happen." I place my hand on Snow's exterior. "Open your armor Snow."

Snow does I tell her, exposing herself. She looks just as Red did when he exposed himself to me for the first time. Her purple, slime-covered body and golden eye is the same.

I hear Martha come up behind me as I gently, I take one of Snowball's slimy tentacles in my hand. With the other I place the small watch on her tentacle.

"What is that thing?" Martha whispers to the Doctor.

In a low voice, the Doctor replies, "The inside of a Dalek."

Securing the watch around her tentacle, I step away from her, allowing her to close her exterior.

"Ok Snow," I tell her as I pat her head, "there are three stick-looking things on the watch I just placed on you. They're called hands. There are three: one thin long one, one short fat one, and one long fat one. The thin is for seconds, the short fat is for minutes, and the long fat is for hours." I look to the Doctor, who nods along. "Let's try two minutes. Rotate the long skinny hand all the way to the right two times."

I assume Snow does as I tell her because suddenly she starts shaking. A yellow glow engulfs Snow as she begins to transform. I watch in awe as her eyestalk moves into her, her metal armor melting into her.

Soon, what use to be a Dalek, there is a woman. Her hair is jet black, her skin almost snow white. There is a light purple to her skin.

I rush to her, sliding beside her. "Get me a blanket!" I call to whoever as I realize she is naked.

Reaching my hand behind me, a blanket is thrown into my hand. I hear wheels surround me as I drape the blanket over the woman's plump body.

"Snow?" I ask as I touch her shoulder. "How do you feel?"

A new voice rings out. "That hurt."

I look up to the Doctor as he crouches beside the woman. "Are you alright now?"

The woman lifts her head. Her eyes sparkle with the same golden color that was in her eye before. "I am... human."

My mouth twitches as I say, "Emphasis on human."

Quickly, I lift her arm to get a good look at her watch, which has stayed the same size. Instead of counting forwards, the thin hand is rotating left to count down.

"You only have a few seconds left." I place a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for volunteering Snow."

Taking the blanket away from her, we all move away as the yellow glow comes again. This time the reverse happens as she transforms back into her Dalek self.

I look past the Doctor to Red as I whisper, "It works."

Rose brings out a tray with three more watches like a lady off of "The Price Is Right". She hands them to the Doctor as she says, "We used to nanogenes to get your DNA. Because of your change with your skin you are the original code. So when they turn the hands on the watches, the nanogenes come out, transform them for the time and change them back."

I nod my head. "Amazing."

The Doctor looks at me and Red. "Are you ready to try it?"

I shift uneasily. This is what I wanted... right? I want Red to be human, of sorts. Does he want to change for me? I don't want to pressure him. That's the last thing I want to do.

But…

He did try to eat a guy in order to become more human for me. Granted it isn't the way to go about doing it but… it's a start.

I take one of the watches in my hand as I approach him. "You can if you want to," I tell Red and the others, "but I will not force you at all."

Doctor quickly sets up the solution he was previously holding to tubes and machines.

"THE DOC-TOR SETS UP THE LIFE-BLOOD OF THE NEW RACE." Red's exterior opens. "Meanwhile, I thought you'd never ask." He wheezes.

Butterflies swarm in my stomach as I do the same to him as I did to Snow. However as the nanogenes surround him, I turn away quickly. The Doctor returns at that moment, allowing me to bury my head into his shoulder.

I'm not afraid of Red. I'm not afraid of what he will look like. I am afraid of what will happen next.

I feel the Doctor tense under my forehead before he moves away.

"Here," someone says, "make yourself decent."

I squeeze my eyes shut as a hand slowly makes its way up my arm, around my shoulder, trailing it's way down my back, until it stops at my waist.

I swallow over the lump that has formed in my throat as I stare at the floor. What am I so afraid of? Maybe it's the anticipation of something new? Maybe it's the fear that a new phase in my life is starting and a lot has changed in this past hour than in my entire lifetime?

"Look at me," a man whispers. He sounds kind, broken, and a bit breathless. "Mandy, please look at me."

I glance up from the floor I had been staring at towards the faces of the Doctor and the others. Each of them appear to be in awestruck of the man holding my waist.

"Remind me not to let Jack around them, yeah?" The Doctor asks to no one as he runs his eyes.

Rose smiles a she nods. "Definitely."

Oh she is totally checking him out! That should be me! He's my boyfriend!

With that thought bringing fire to me, I spin on my heel. All I catch is a glimpse at a blur before I pull the man down towards me. Two pairs of lips touched: mine and his. I'm sure it is physically impossible to burn from the inside out, but the desire that had begun building in me as he pulled me against him is like no other than I've ever felt.

Holy crap, he's naked! I think as I kiss him. Oh well.

My lungs begin screaming for air after what I classify as a very hot kiss. Reluctantly, I break away from the man.

I keep my eyes closed as I press my forehead to his. "That was you, right?" I ask with a shaky and breathless laugh. "Because I don't want to have to explain that to the actual Red."

I feel a vibration pulse through my chest. "Affirmative Mandy. It is me."

"Good."

I pull away from Red, my arms still looped around his neck and bare shoulders from the kiss. Slowly, I open my eyes.

Only to have the lights cut out.


	9. Chapter 9

Power outages are normal during storms back at home, but when did it even start raining to begin with?

I lean my head on Red's shoulder with a nervous laugh. Perfect timing... "What happened to the lights, guys?"

I can't exactly see him without light. Which defeats the purpose of him changing really.

Red, in turn, drapes his arm around my waist. His hand skimming my back with a light touch. How can someone who has been a blob for centuries have a light physical touch?

"Well," the Doctor calls into the darkness, "solar flare must have hit. Seems to have knocked out power in the whole building... which means... we have life!"

I listen to the sound of shoes run across the floor. My fingers reach out, feeling for Red, to find a blanket wrapped tightly around a very warm body. Startled, I yank my hand away. I don't want to accidentally touch him and make him uncomfortable.

Red moves his arm from around my waist to my hand. An oddly calloused hand wraps around mine. He brings my hand to the top of the blanket. "Your heart rate has increased. Are you ill?"

Thankful for the darkness, my face heats. My heart pounds in my chest as I blindly make my way up his chest to his shoulders and neck. For one moment, I consider shaking myself, convinced this is a dream, but as I lean my head on his chest I know it's real. "I could ask you the same thing. Your heartbeat is picking up speed." I pull away to lightly kiss his cheek. "You ok?"

Red stiffens as I trace a path from his cheek down his throat to his collarbone with my nose. His breaths become shaky, "I am... afraid."

I pull back to peer into the darkness at his face. "Why?"

Lips press against mine. The same passion and message of love pulse through the two of us.

"You."

At that word, the lights lift, momentarily blinding me. I can practically hear someone whisper that their vision is impaired. Blinking rapidly to adjust to the light again, I stare at the floor at his bare feet. Slowly, I raise my eyes to take in his new body.

Red's skin is almost the same as mine. Not pale like Snow's, but a deeper shade of purple than mine. I gulp as I look up to his eyes. Two golden orbs lock with my green eyes, a smile playing on both of our lips.

Red's hair, funny enough, is fire engine red. Reaching out, my fingers touch his straw-like hair. I chuckle quietly as I ruffle it, like I used to do with my friends back home.

Red reaches up and takes my hand, our fingers lacing together. Now that I can actually see him, Red gently strokes my cheek. This is what I want. More than anything, I want to be with him. Now we can fly across the starts to Skaro and be together.

"I, uh, hate to break apart this moment," the Doctor says as he scratches the back of his neck, "but you should come meet the kids."

Reluctantly I pull away from Red. Just in time too, because he begins to change back into his Dalek form.

"Wait, Doctor, what kids?" I ask as I being to go after him. "Doctor?!"

The group charges after the Doctor into what appears to be a stage in a theater. The velvet seats that line the room are empty, but the carpeted isles are filled with men and women holding... is that a Dalek laser?

Red comes behind me as I turn to him. "Red, what the flip did you do?"

"HU-MAN DAL-EKS WILL HELP BUILD THE EM-PIRE A-GAIN!" Red answers. "I THOUGHT THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT-ED!"

I rub my hand down my face. "Not exactly, dear."

The Doctor stands tall on the arms of the theater chair. He gestures to the isles, "Empress," the Doctor booms, "do you swear to take these people and leave this planet in peace?"

I look at the range of faces looking at the stage with a blank face. So not only am I supposed to lead an army of Dalek, but now people turned Daleks.

"I do," I choke out.

A hand is placed on my lower back. I glance behind me to find Rose looking ahead, her head held high as she stares into the blank faces of the Human-Daleks.

"Speak to them," she mumbles.

I blink at her. Speak to them? And say what exactly?

Squirming in my spot on stage, I push myself forwards to the center. "Daleks!" I begin, instantly heads and eyes snap to attention to my spot. "Do you know who I am?"

All fifty scream, "You are the Empress! We will obey!"

Well that's a bit better. I nod my head. "How do you feel?"

I expect a We-feel-nothing response. Instead, the Doctor speaks up. "I managed to put in a bit of Time Lord into their new DNA. This will give them the free will they need. Go on then," he tells the group, "how do you feel?"

A moment passes before a woman about my age speaks up. "We were once dead. That left us cold, dark, and alone. Now we are able to live and breathe again."

Tears form in my eyes as Rose pulls me closer to her. She doesn't tell me not to cry. She doesn't tell me that this is wrong. She simply lets me cry as I did for her minutes earlier.

Several seconds pass before a group of men and women surround me. Each of them, thankfully have on make-shift clothing, but I recognize them instantly. My Daleks have changed into humans to comfort me.

That just makes me cry harder.

"What is your malfunction, Empress?" The darkest of the four ask. "Are you ill?"

I chuckle as I wipe my eyes. "No, Midnight, I'm not ill. Humans cry when they're happy, sad, or even angry."

A short lady with neon blue hair in a pixie cut asks as she wipes my eyes, "And what kind of cry is this?"

Looking around at my Daleks and the others awaiting orders, I finally decide. "This is most definitely a good cry. My family is either dead or gone in my time. My job sucked, home is now a wreck... I had no one." I place my hand on Midnight's face, rubbing his cheek gently with my thumb. "Now I have you. Not exactly the way I wanted to get a family, but the best ones are the ones you least expect."

Pushing through my little crowd, I jump off the center stage and go to the Doctor.

"Don't exterminate him!" I call as I take the collar of his jacket in my hands. "Rose, heads up!"

Slowly, as if asking permission, I kiss the Doctor. Not a kiss of love or passion, but a kiss of gratitude. It's a simple delicate kiss on his lips.

We pull away from each other. Judging by his face, he can see the others behind me.

"Thank you, Doctor." I say after I clear my throat. "You have done so much for my family. Also, I really wanted to do that so..."

The Doctor rolls his eyes as he pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around him in response. I've never been happier in my life. I love Red and the others so much that I can't wait for this trip.

Excitedly, I yank away from the Doctor. My feet pound down the carpeted walkways to the stage as I join my family again. "Okay!" I shout, bouncing on my toes, "First thing's first, no frowny faces! I want to see smiles! We're going home!"

I pull Blue into a hug, and place a kiss on the top of her head. Each of my Daleks laugh as I run around the stage like a madwoman.

"Second thing; we need to fit everyone in the sphere. Rose, Martha," I turn to Rose and Martha. The two have been watching in amusement at my craziness. Now they snap to attention. "Do you think you can get some food and water for us? I don't know what Skaro is like food and water-wise."

Martha looks at Rose before nodding. "Got it, but how will you all fit inside this sphere?"

I wink at her as I say, "Bigger on the inside."

Martha laughs as she dashes off the way we came.

I spin on my heel, "Doctor! How fast can you make more watches? Blue needs to learn how to make them." I nudge Blue in his direction. "But hang on a sec!"

Rose attempts to go after Martha before I pull her back. "Nope, you have news. Go." Gently I give her a shove before addressing the crowd again.

In doing so, I watch out of the corner of my eye as Rose approaches the Doctor. The two of them share a quick kiss before it happens.

The Doctor stops, causing me to stop giving orders to the new army. I turn to face him, unsure in how this will end.

Slowly, the Doctor's smile slips off his face. For a moment I think he will become worried or angry. Instead he drops to his knees in front of Rose and does something the breaks my heart... he begins to cry.

I feel someone poke my arm, tearing me away from the scene unfolding before me. I turn my head to see cute little Snowball, wrapped in a towel.

"Empress, request information." She asks formally.

"Continue. What's your question, Snow?"

Snowball looks at her feet as she rocks back and forth, her toes curling under her. "Why is the Doctor crying?

I look back over my shoulder where the Doctor is hugging Rose's waist. Now both of them are crying. Turning back to Snow, I tilt her chin upwards at me. "A good cry. Just as you are getting your family back, the Doctor is getting his back."

Snow's bronze eyes shine with tears as she looks up at me. Suddenly, I feel the weight of two arms wrap around me. Snow squeezes tightly before releasing me.

"Apologize," she squeaks, "Inappropriate."

The familiar weight of Red's arms circle around me as he places a light kiss on my neck. "Affirmative," he whispers in my ear, "Inappropriate."

I roll my eyes as a loud rumble of laughter bursts out of me as I reach out to her to and yank her into an even tighter hug. "Nonsense Snow! This is a time for celebration!" I address the group, "Now! How about we get home, huh?"

Have you ever been on a road trip with family? Or have you ever been with a child who constantly asks questions?

Yes? No?

Well, what ever the answer, it should give you a clear image of what it was like to have 54 speaking people in the sphere at once. Constant "are-we-there-yets" from the passengers and constant questions about my old life from my Daleks. I could have easily told them to be quiet, but it gets eerily quiet when no one else talks.

It was nice to have the chance to speak though. They learned of my travels across the Earth through the forests and mountains to where I was finally settled when I first met Red. Apparently they had never seen the mountain on Earth, just the big cities so the Daleks could take over easily. At that comment, I laughed so hard that I fell backwards onto the floor. The look of worry and suppressed giggles was enough to throw me back into my laughing fit.

I told the group of the Cybermen and how I used Red as a chair. Red didn't like that story. He said that he was worried about me.

Isn't he sweet?

During this stretch of time I was able to establish that I am the boss, along with my four Daleks. I realized quickly that if you squeeze over 50 bodies into one space, it will be super humid and body functions are gross. The stench of sweat and farts was enough to wish for an air freshener.

Thankfully we should be almost to Skaro. Not too sure, but maybe.

I stare into the lights scattered around me. We were able to get flashlights before we left in order to have spots of light throughout the surprisingly large sphere.

I release a sigh as I roll over onto my right side, listening to the slow, steady heartbeat of Red. He's been staying in his human form frequently. Reaching below me just a bit, my fingers find their way to his hand. I trace meaningless figures up and down his arms.

Before we started our journey again, I grabbed one of the watches Blue and the Doctor made. Running my fingers over the outer edge of the watch, I stir over what I have to plan for I order for us to survive.

Three basic necessities: food, water, and shelter. Even the Doctor couldn't supply enough food and water for an empire. Not too sure about the water situation. I'm sure the Daleks will build something.

But what about the air? Is there oxygen on Skaro? What about-?

"Mandy," Red mumbles as he adjusts underneath my head, "what's wrong?"

I sigh, metaphorically pushing a majority of my worry out of my body, as I snuggle next to him. "Nothing, go back to sleep."

Red chuckles quietly as he wraps his arms around me. "Incorrect. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I whisper, "ok, so I'm worried about all of a human's basic needs." I turn onto my stomach, my arm now draped across his chest, as I run my fingers through my hair. "It's just... humans need food, water, and shelter. We can make our own clothes, I think. But none of that matters if we don't have air to breathe. How's the air on your planet? Is there a good balance of oxygen and nitrogen? Do you have a way of testing your air? What about your old shelters or- or homes? Do you-"

"-Amanda," Red interrupts, "Would it help if I told you some history of Skaro?"

Pushing myself up, I cross my legs like a child. I start to nod before I remember he probably can't see me. "Yes, absolutely, that would help."

Red chuckles quietly. Sounds like he adjusts on the floor as he sighs. "What do you want to know first?"

"The air!" I start.

I don't know how long we sat there and talked. I learned about the planet and how we could survive. Daleks don't understand the concept of beauty, so when it came to asking about landscapes, Red gave me the basic information and assessments.

I can't picture the land in my mind, so I'll have to wait until we get there. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I feel the sphere shake. The people laying not too far from us begin to wake up from the noise.

"What's going on?" I ask as I feel for Red. My fingers graze the bottom edge of his metal exterior. "Red? What is going on?"

The slumbering people begin to gather around me, reaching out for me. They're not afraid, but they're also not battle ready. I feel the weight of a laser gun press to my hand as I stand to feel for Red.

"PRO-TECT THE EM-PRESS!" Red calls as the sphere begins to open. "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

From what I can see of the darkened sky, we must be on Skaro. Thankfully the air is a bit thinner than Earth's. Basically the equivalent of living on a mountain top. The dim light that shines in the sphere shows me that my Daleks are beginning to change as they charge forward into battle.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" I hear someone scream.

Wait... that isn't one of my Daleks. Who the heck is on this planet?!


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: shout out to TheElvinDemigodDW2 for sticking with me through this. You're the best! Also, I love the comments from everyone. Feel free to comment and ask questions as you would like.

...

Three of my Daleks fly overhead into the night, only the sound of lasers following.

I tap Red's exterior. "Get me up there."

"NO," Red screams as he swings his eye stalk towards me.

I squint my eyes at him. "No? Did you just tell me no? Oh heck no, get me up there, Red. Now!"

Red stays quiet before he turns for me to climb on his back. I adjust carefully before I point to a small pile on the floor below me.

"Hey," I call to one of the men, getting his attention, "hand me that laser."

The man, obviously afraid of Red, quickly does as he is told.

Once the laser is in my hand, I aim it forward. I close my left eye as I test the sight. I've never shot a laser gun before, but Red was kind enough to show me how as we were waiting in the sphere. With a nod, I tap Red's head in signal to go out of the sphere.

Slowly, Red rises into the night sky. The landscape automatically takes my breath away.

Everything is a deep crimson red. The sky is painted with cotton thin clouds that are scattered everywhere. Below us is a deep red land, that has dust blowing in the wind. What sounds like a stream of water makes itself known in the distance, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is the mini war going on below me.

I clear my throat. "Hey!" I scream into the night. "Enough!"

Automatically, my Daleks stop. They fly around to where I am, forming a line behind Red. Below us, a new row of Daleks are formed, along with a group that looks like people.

I tap his head again. "Set me down, Red."

Red hesitates before he does as I tell him to.

As he sets down on the dust-covered planet, I take in my surroundings. The dust is loose dirt, obviously, but instead of a crimson red, it's more of a light pink/orange color. The group that stands across from us and the other Daleks look like people, but they're very pale. Each of them have their own gun aimed at us.

I lower my laser. "Let me address the Daleks first. I wasn't aware there were any of you left, except for mine."

One Dalek moves forward, aiming his laser at me. "WHO ARE YOU TO QUES-TION THE DAL-EKS? EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

I snort as I aim mine at him. "Funny," I say as I narrow my eyes at him, "I was just going to say the same about you. I'm the Empress."

The Dalek that spoke looks at his comrades. "YOU ARE THE EM-PRESS OF THE DAL-EKS?" He questions. "BUT YOU ARE A HU-MAN! EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

I squeeze the trigger of my laser, sending the beam just millimeters from him. Cocking my head I ask him, "Wanna try that again?"

Midnight appears in my line of sight. "I AM A SUR-PREME DAL-EK. SHE IS THE EM-PRESS! YOU WILL O-BEY!"

The group of five or six Daleks move away from me. "WE WILL O-BEY!"

I lower my weapon. "Awesome! Now that we got that settled," I turn to the other group, "Who are you? Obviously, I'm the Empress of the Daleks, and contrary to popular belief, we aren't as violent as before."

A young man with green lips steps forward with two wide strides. "We are the Thals. We did not mean to intrude, but when your transportation device arrived, it gave us quite a scare. We're usually quite peaceful. You say you are the leader of the Dals?"

I look behind me at the large white orb. We gave them a spook. Turning back to the two clusters, I glance at Red out of the corner of my eye. "Come again? The Dals?"

The man nods as he gestures to the Daleks. "Yes, the Dals. You are their leader, but escaped transformation?" He brings his hand to my face, his pale hand caressing my cheek.

I take a step back from him as I look at my veins, now pulsing with purple. "Well, uh, not escaped per say, but yes I am their leader."

The man begins to move. Not only does he being to enclose the space around me, but he wraps his hand around my wrist. "Excellent, the Thals hope to welcome you to Skaro."

Red aims his laser at the humanoid. "RE-LEASE THE EM-PRESS! OR YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MIN-ATED! EX-TER-MIN-ATED!"

I stare at the humanoid holding my wrist captive as I narrow my eyes at him. His hand is covering my bracelet. I imagine fire burning in my blood, and before I can blink, he yelps in pain and snatches his hand away. I use this opportunity to twist his arm around, aiming the laser at his head.

"No one," I hiss through clenched teeth as my burning skin leaves a burn mark on his wrist, "I repeat no one touches me without my saying so."

"A-MAN-DA," I hear Red call behind me.

Reluctantly I release the humanoid. He straightens his back as he moves away from me. A low growl sounds from the back of my throat. Traveling around Earth, I've had many run ins with different people grabbing me just because they can. Not here, absolutely not here.

"I apologize," the Thal whispers as he rubs his shoulder, "I did not mean to upset you. Thals are very physical creatures. Again, my apologies, Empress."

Taking a deep breath, I turn back to Red. "Whatever, just- just don't do it again. Now I'm guessing that because you live here that there must a way for us to, well, live." I run my hand through my hair. Thick oil comes away as I yank through my tangled hair. "Ok, look, I have 50 people, humans to be exact, in that sphere. I need to know they can live."

"HU-MANS?" one of the Daleks ask, "HU-MANS ARE WEAK AND IN-FER-I-OR!"

I send a glare behind me. "These humans have Daleks DNA in them, and a bit of Time Lord... ish."

"Time Lord?" The Thal man asks. "There are many Time Lords, well, before the war. One named the Doctor helped us defeat the Dals during our war."

A smile plays across my lips. "Yeah, the Doctor. He helped save the people." Turning my back to Red, I lean against him as I continue, "Anyway, I have to know we can live. Three things we need, as I told my dear Red earlier, food, water, and air. Obviously the balance in the air is a bit different, a bit thinner really than Earth, so that's covered. But what about food and water?"

The Thals glance at each other, some form of communication between them. Their blonde heads bobbing up and down as their eyes and mouths move silently to form words deaf to my ears. I turn to Red, leaning my head on his.

Ah yes, another stupid human thing... I need a bath!

A Dalek approaches Snowball. "RE-QUEST IN-FOR-MA-TION. ARE YOU DAL-EK THAY?"

Snowball spins to face the Dalek. "I WAS ONCE. NOW I AM KNOWN AS SNOW-BALL."

"I WAS KNOWN AS DAL-EK JAST!" Blue calls, as she joins the group. "NOW I AM BLUE."

Red joins in with the names, "I WAS DAL-EK SEC. MAN-DY HAS NAMED ME RED."

I twist my face. "Midnight, what was your name?"

Midnight doesn't answer for a long period of time, before he finally speaks. "I DID NOT HAVE A NAME BE-FORE YOU NAMED ME."

That's sad. To be known as nothing but a number in a world that thinks you're superior is twisted in itself. Maybe that's why Midnight saw me as his leader so easily. Maybe not, but he knows that I see him as an individual, not a number in a row.

I nod my head to him as one of the female Thals approach me. "Empress, we would like to show you to our gardens. If you allow us..." She spreads her silver robed arms in a sweeping motion. "The Daleks can take your people to what I believe is called the Asylum while we show you our homes."

I glance behind me to Red. I don't want to start a war with these people. They know how to live and thrive on Skaro. I love my Daleks, but they're complete dunderheads when it comes to living. Besides the Daleks already have a place to live. Granted, it may be an asylum, which is not the greatest, but it would allow the people to properly rest. Besides, a garden means food. Real food, not some powder mess.

I have to go.

"Ok, give me a sec."

Behind me, I hear a crunching sound. Judging by the faces of the Thals, someone transformed. Two Thals rush past me with long piece of cloth blowing between them. After they rush back to their group, I begin wondering who changed.

A hand runs up my arm as I spin to face Red. "Mandy, I don't want you going alone. I fought in the war between the Dals and the Thals. It did not end well. You know how the radiation spilt. What if these plants harm you?"

I roll my eyes I nudge his side. "Babe, please. Earth has many dangerous animals, plants, and weather. We eat things we shouldn't all the time. I'll be fine. Besides," I lean close to his ear, "you'll be with me the whole time."

I pull away from him, winking before I address the others. "Take the people to the Asylum. I'll look around there when I get back, ok? In the meantime, Midnight is in charge while Red and I are at the gardens." I begin to walk towards the Thal group before I turn on my heel towards the Skaro Daleks. "Oh, and any Dalek that tries to harm the humans or questions Midnight's order will be dealt with personally by me. M'kay?"

I don't wait to hear the expected, "WE OBEY!" before I join the Thal group with Red. Hand in hand, I begin my journey across the planet.

...

Red's transformation didn't last long. I think he just wanted to whisper instead of yell. Instead of traveling with the Thals, we fly overhead.

From a birds eye view, I can see the winding deep colored streams and wide lakes becoming rivers. According to Red there's the Ocean of Ooze and my favorite, the Lake of Mutations. There are other that I'll have to explore later, for now my eye is on the burnt forest we just flew over.

In a short distance, we come to the home of the Thals. Instantly, I'm met with welcoming but weary smiles as I'm led through their homes. That's when I see them...

The gardens are beautiful! Large green leafy plants with multicolored flowers and fruit. Tall trees with things I've never seen before hanging just within reach. As we entered the garden, my breath is taken away as I wonder down the rows. Red stays with the group as I take my time picking my way through the variations of food.

After a short while I hear Red come up behind me. "Here," he says as he picks a purple and white fruit. Jabbing his thumbs into the top of the fruit, breaking it apart to reveal the pale seeds and pink flesh. "They call it a oogle berry."

I take the fruit out of his hand. Looking up to see a nod of the lead Thal, I bite into the oogle berry. "Mmmm," I mean as I finish the slice. "Reminds me of a kiwi and a mango. Odd flavor, but good. Here, you try!"

I pass the fruit into Red's mouth as we move on to the different plants. Each cluster of trees has a new food that is delicious. If they allow us to learn from them, I know we will survive.

After making our way throughout the garden, we arrive back at the door. Along the way the Thals were gracious enough to give me a basket full of fruit and their vegetation.

Suddenly a three-second alarm sounds as a pale red mist is sprayed on the plants. The Thals and Red jump behind the gate, away from the mist.

"No!" The lead Thal exclaims as the mist lands on me. "Empress, I am so sorry! I should have warned you!"

I scrunch my eyebrows together as I ask, "About what?"

"The mist!"

I run my fingers along the now wet leafs. "What is it? Water?"

Red shakes his head. "Amanda, the radiation the Daleks released changed the water formula. It's practically acid now. It burns anyone it touches."

"Then why use it on the plants?"

The lead Thal replies as he stares at me heartbroken. "It's the only way to grow them."

If it is acid, shouldn't my skin be melting or something though? I raise my hand to one of the sprinklers, soaking my hand in the mist. Bringing my hand to my mouth, I taste the water.

I scrunch my nose at my hand. "Eww, too salty." Picking up the basket, I move through the gate. "You changed the formula, but for me it's nothing but salt water. Find a way to purify the water and we'll have something to drink."

I begin walking to the exit. Time to see that Asylum and feed my people.

...

The Asylum... not the best place in the world. Very rusted and quiet, if you ignore the Dalek/human cyborgs. You can easily get lost going down the hallways.

Except for the screams of the ones locked away and coming from the main room.

After bursting through the doors, I was angry to find my people and the Skaro Daleks arguing.

Yes, arguing.

"YOU WILL O-BEY!" one Dalek cried.

A man who is shielding some of the others barked back, "We will not!"

"O-BEY!"

"No!"

Ah, so that's the free will the Doctor was talking about...

"Quiet!" I shout as I make my way to the wide stage in the auditorium. "What's the problem?"

The Skaro Daleks surround me, each eye stalk mer inches from my face. "THEY WILL NOT O-BEY! THEY WILL NOT BE-COME DAL-EK CY-BORGS!"

I roll my eyes as I push past them, heading towards the others. Each of them, bless their hearts, trembling in their old rags. Gently, I set down the basket of food and open one of the fruits, like Red did for me.

"I brought food. Daleks don't really eat, so until we learn to plant in this soil, this is what we have to work with. Save your seeds, ok?"

After dropping off the basket of food, I brush off my pants. I start towards the group of Skaro Daleks, still screaming about my stubborn humans, when my eye catches a long blood-red stream. It reminds me of the mist at the gardens, so if I'm right, we could bathe there. I'm sure the Daleks could figure out a way to purify the water, or learn from the Thals.

Suddenly, I hear a throat clear from behind me. I turn to see a handsome man with extremely dark purple skin.

"Midnight?" I ask, reaching out to him.

He scratches the back of his neck as he nods and takes my hand. "Yes Empress. Um, while you were away the cyborgs have um..."

"What have they done now?" I ask as I overlook the group.

"The Doctor and companions has been acquired!" The female cyborg says as she drags in a man with long hair and a bow tie. Along with him is a lady with long ginger hair in a tight-looking outfit and another man who I cannot see clearly.

That's not my Doctor... Who the heck is he?!

Quickly, I race down the stairs to the man. I slide to hbison my knees as my arms catch his body before it drops.

"Doctor?" I ask as I tap his face. "Doctor? Wake up!"

Suddenly he sits up, blinking at me befor he pushes himself up.

His friend asks, "Where are we?" As he looks out of a small window. "And how- how much trouble are we in?"

The "Doctor" goes to him as he takes in the room. "How much trouble, Mister Pond? Out of ten? Eleven"

I watch as the three study their surroundings. Definitely not Rose or Martha… who are these people?

"Where are we?" The woman asks.a spaceship, right?"

"Nope!" I cut in from my position on the floor. "The Parliament of the Daleks. Now home to all the Daleks that I know are in existence."

The man with the bow tie looks down at me before telling the woman, "Be brave."

"What do we do?" The woman asks.

"Make them remember you." The man with the bow tie says as he dances around me. "Well, come on then. You've got me. What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas! Here I am."

The Doctor closes his eyes tight, as if he's expecting to die before a Skaro Dalek steps up.

"SAVE US." The Dalek says. "YOU WILL SAVE US."

I scrunch my eyebrows together. "Run that by me again? He's gonna what?"

Suddenly the Skaro Daleks surround our group as a chorus sounds.

"SAVE THE DAL-EKS! SAVE THE DAL-EKS! SAVE THE DAL-EKS! SAVE THE DAL-EKS!"

The man scratches his head as he looks at me. "Well… this is new…"

I nod my head. "Yeah, hang on a minute. SHUT UP!"

The Daleks stop.

"Thank you," I say as I twist my hair into a sad excuse of a bun. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The man with the bow tie steps forward. "Amanda, it's me; the Doctor."

I shake my head at him as I push myself off of the floor. "No, no, no, no. I've met the Doctor. And you… you are most definitely not him. Now where is he?"

The man steps forward again, lightly taking my hand in his. "You are Amanda. You are the Empress of the Daleks. You helped destroy the Cybermen by sitting on your boyfriend's head, like a Queen on her throne. But more importantly…" He gently kisses my hand, sending tingles up my arm. "You took the Daleks to Skaro, just as you said after I showed Blue how to make the watches. I regenerate, which is why I've changed so much, but you… You haven't changed at all."

As he speaks, I stare at him. How can he know all of this? Doppelganger maybe?

"Doctor?" I ask as I stroke his cheek.

He smiles. "That's me!"

I jump with joy, diving into a hug. Which is all well and good…. until the phone the Doctor gave me for emergencies starts to ring.


	11. Chapter 11

Again, to avoid plagiarism, some dialogue is not mine. It belongs to the show.

…...

The short moment of joy brakes off as I push away from the Doctor. Is he really the Doctor? As odd as it sounds he feels like the Doctor, hugs like him, but only the real Doctor has this number.

Before we left New York the Doctor gave me a small flip phone, just big enough to fit in my pocket. With some jiggery pokery he was able to make sure the phone could call through time and never die.

Pretty cool, but if the Doctor is here with me now, why is the phone ringing?

Time for the offensive. My hand finds its way to my laser gun while my other finds the phone. Noticing my not-so-subtle signal, every Dalek aims their own laser at the trio.

With the gun pointed at the impostor's head, I flip open the phone. "Hello?" I ask harshly.

"Oi!" The redhead exclaims as the other man pulls her behind him. "What going on? Who is this?"

The "Doctor" pales slightly. "This is Amanda, Empress of the Daleks, as stated earlier, mind you. And we're in a bit of a pinch."

"Amanda!" The real Doctor exclaims through the phone, "I need your help. Right now!"

I narrow my eyes at the man in the bow tie looking both confused and worried. "Who is this?"

A annoyed groan comes from the other end of the line. "Amanda... it's me, the Doctor. Has it really been that long?"

My hand tightens around the gun. "That's funny, because I appear to be talking with the Doctor in my time. How and why are there two of you?"

The man with the bow tie clears his throat. "I remember this now. Amanda, I am the Doctor, but so is the man you're talking to."

I study the man. His crazy hair looking wild and unbrushed. His figure appears to be the same, though he isn't as skinny as before.

"Prove it," I say into the phone. "Both of you. Prove it."

"How?" The two ask at the same time.

If I wasn't so confused I would probably laugh. "Doctor, my Doctor, do something. If Bowtie here remembers this day with your memories then he will tell me what you're doing."

I watch as Bowtie rubs down his face. "Right now I rubbed my face. Now..."

"I'm standing on my right foot and Donna is looking me like I'm crazy," the two said at the same time.

Ok, fine, they're the same. The sound of the laser powering down brings a sigh of relief from the Doctor.

"Sorry about that, Doctor." I sigh. "What's the emergency?"

"Daleks!" He screams. "Bad ones, very very bad ones. They need an Empress, if not... I- I don't know what they'll do." He whispers quietly, "I don't know what I'll do."

I sigh as I reach out my hand to Bowtie. A dorky smile appears on his face as our finger lace together, telling the others to power down their lasers as well. These blasted Daleks and their exterminating. Well, if I'm going to rebuild Skaro, I'm going to need all of them I can get.

"I guess I'll ask the other you how to get there then." With another sigh, I add, "Send me the day and year and stuff and I'll see you in a few."

Bowtie, or I guess the Doctor, glances around the room. Due to our commotion the Skaro Daleks, my Daleks, the cyborgs, and the Human Daleks have all gathered around us. Multiple thoughts run through my head at once as I begin to pace.

More Daleks I can handle, but time travel without the sphere? What the flip am I supposed to do?

Suddenly the Doctor drops to the floor. "Oi! Watch the fingers?" We yank our hands apart for him to massage his fingers. "Bout broke my fingers with all that pacing."

A sheepish smile crosses my face.

Oops.

Reaching into his pocket he pulls out a large black... thing. Looks like a tablet you put on your arm. Nothing like the iPads or iPhones from home. It's too big to be a Smart Watch.

"I was wondering why I still have this thing." The Doctor says as he straps the tablet into my wrist. "Thanks to Jack Harkness, shhhhh, he still thinks his is broken, I now have his vortex manipulator."

I nod along, not following anything that he's saying.

The Doctor pulls my arm, pulling me towards him, as he punches in some random numbers. He keeps rambling off something, but all I can see is him, just his lively outline and madness.

I reach out and touch his face. His voice dies off as I turn his face to look at me. His outer appearance may have changed, but the brokenness behind his eyes hasn't changed at all.

"My lonely Doctor," I whisper as I rub my thumb up and down his cheek. "You've changed so much."

The man before me stares at me, his eyes searching me for something just out of reach. "Yes, I have, but you haven't. I need you to go help me." His hand takes mine. "Press the button here and it'll take you exactly to where you need to be. It will also bring you back to this spot."

I nod my head as I slowly pull away from him. If he needs my help, I'm going to do whatever I can.

Before I press the button, I look behind me. Red is in human form, his face hard and hurt.

Taking a deep breath, I walk towards him. "Red's in charge while I'm away."

Red reaches out to me, "Mandy..."

"No, look, Red," I start before he can continue, "I have to go, okay? He needs me. Look, in the meantime, find out what that Doctor is doing here. I'll try to be quick."

As the last word leaves my mouth, I press my lips against his. The two of us stay there a moment, before I take a step back.

Red can handle everyone. Since the Empire State building and the watches, the Doctor and Red must have come to some sort of agreement. Actually, before that when Red trusted the Doctor to protect me. I just hope it's enough to stop them from killing each other.

"I'll be back guys!"

Taking one last look around me, I brace myself as I press the button to transport me to wherever I'm supposed to be.

...

"Ouch!" I exclaim as my feet give out from under me. A few choice words follow as I test my legs in order to stand. As I take in my surroundings, I notice that the atmosphere has changed. There's a sad charge to the air, not the happy and childlike feel like when I first stepped inside.

What's changed?

Before me stands a lady with red hair, but not the same lady as just a few moments ago.

"Oi! Who the blazes are you?" The red head asks loudly.

Hands wrap around my arms, when I'm suddenly rushed to a dark computer screen that is pressed to my nose. My eyes flicker up over the monitor to the Doctor, which brings me to notice his tight jaw and dark expression.

"Rose," the Doctor asks as he looks into my eyes, his voice tight, "are you there?"

"Hey," I whisper as I yank my face back, "What's the rush? Why are you- Wait, where is Rose?"

Suddently a crackiling voice sounds from the computer, "Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged."

Another female voice sounds through the computer. "No. But he's dead."

"Welcome," the voice cries, "to my new Empire!"

On the computer screen a blue light appears as a man in a wheelchair moves forward into the spotlight dramatically. "Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race."

The man, or Dalek-man-person-thing, looks deep into whatever camera there is available. Poking out of his head are wires, while his skin looks deathly white and wrinkled. My eyes flicker to the Doctor, whose eyes are red-rimmed. He isn't afraid, obviously, but angry.

This old fart creater the Daleks?

"Doctor?" The red-haired woman asks as she comes around the console.

"Have you nothing to say?" The mutant named Davros asks, moving forward again.

"Doctor, it's all right." The woman says as she rubs his arm. His jaw tightens even more as he stares at the screen. "We're- we're in the Tardis. We're safe."

Finally he speaks. "But you were destroyed. In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysium." The Doctor flips the screen to face him. "I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child." His voice quiets as he adds, "I tried to save you."

Davros raises his chin in triumph. "Ah, but it took one stronger than you." A light shines on a broken Daleks as Davros introduces him, "Dalek Caan himself."

The creature giggles madly. "I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times."

"An Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself."

"But that's impossible." The Doctor says as he ruffles his hair. "The entire War is time locked."

"And yet," the hybrid moves forward in his mechanical chair, "he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine. A single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?

"And you made a new race of Daleks," the Doctor growls.

I watch silently as the scene unfolds. Davros continues, "I gave myself to them, quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body." Davros opens his cloak to reveal bare ribs with just a few nerve endings over them, and his internal organs inside. "New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"

So wait a minute… He just made himself a Dalek or did the Daleks come from him? How? And more importantly, why? What has he gained from this?

The Doctor glances at me, his face hard just as a spark dances in his eyes. Not just a spark, but a fire that will burn until he dies. "After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only one thing to say to you. Bye!"

Suddenly the TARDIS begins to shake. The smile that was on the Doctor's face is gone now. He looks to me, his eyes dark and stormy. That's when I realize someone's missing.

"They've taken Rose, haven't they?"

The man before me wraps his hand tightly around mine. "Yes. They, the Daleks, they took her and Toby."

I furrow my eyebrows together. I don't know a Toby... Who the heck is Toby?

Reading my face, the Doctor explains momentarily. "Toby's our son, but they've taken them. Amanda, you are the only one I know who can stop them from hurting them. If something happens..."

Carefully, I run my hand up and down his arm. "Hey, I'm going to help in any way I can. Ok?" Nudging him towards me, I pull him into a hug. "Shhh, breathe, you put that beautiful mind to work and I'll be there beside you, ok?"

Nodding, the Doctor steps back to wipe his face. "Davros is, well, he's old and crazy. You travel with the Cult of Skaro, which you know, but what you don't know is that Caan was the fourth of them. Your Midnight took his place. I had a run in with him a few years back and to escape he used a shift. Must have fried his brain."

I nod along as I run a hand through my hair.

That would explain why Midnight doesn't have a name. But how am I supposed to control Daleks that don't even know me? The Doctor seems to have more faith in me than I do.

Oh Doctor…. What have you gotten me into?

And I still have to deal with the Asylum. Ugh!

He begins dancing around the console while I slide down the wall of the TARDIS. Closing my eyes, I rub my neck as I feel the ship settle. The sound of multiple feet stomp around until two land in front of me.

Glancing at the shoes, my eyes travel upwards to a very handsome man. "Hi, Jack Harkness," he says with a smile.

He's cute, strong judging by that tight shirt, and obviously flirtatious with anyone.

I push myself off the floor. "Nice to meet you. I'm Amanda."

The smile slowly drains from his face, revealing a hardness in eyes. "Doctor!" He shouts as a gun is brought to my face. "Why is there a Dalek on your ship?"

So this is what it's like to have a gun pointed at your face… I should probably apologize to the other Doctor. Oops.

Rolling my eyes, my hand slides to the laser gun I kept with me. "That's Empress, thank you very much. You may be good looking, but your attitude changed so fast I have whip lash."

Jack tilts his head to the side, as of studying me around his gun. "Funny. You know, you don't look like the Emperor. I would know, I met him."

"Oi!" The Doctor exclaims as he cuts between us. "I'll have no one shooting anyone in the TARDIS." He turns to look at an older woman, who stands behind Jack. "We have work to do."

Jack lowers his gun cautiously. "You look like that guy from the screen so, uh, sorry about that."

I shrug my shoulders. "As long as I don't have a blue eye sticking out of my forehead I'm good."

"So… you're not the Emperor's wife or daughter or anything, are you?" He asks cautiously.

A chuckle escapes me. "No, a few Daleks friended me and kinda made me the Empress. That when I met the Doctor, actually."

The man smirks just as the TARDIS lurches, causing a loud creak like splintering wood.

The Dalek must have us.

The Doctor throws a switch in his control panel as he announces, "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard!" A moment passes as he looks at the door, the gears practically turning in his head. "We'll have to go out. Because if we don't, they'll get in."

Jack turns away from me, back to the Doctor. "You told me nothing could get through those doors. You've got extrapolator shielding."

The Doctor ruffles his hair again. "Last time we fought the Daleks, before we had Amanda, they were scavengers and hybrids, and mad. But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDISes, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door is just wood."

I study the door and the space we're in. Everything seems fine, normal even, but this is big. My Daleks I can control, I know them. The Empire itself… I don't know about that.

I notice Donna staring into space, as if she's lost in herself.

"Right then." The Doctor goes to the door. "All of us together. Yeah. Donna? Amanda? Donna?"

Both of our heads snap up.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing else we can do." His eyes search ours. Maybe for fear, maybe for courage, maybe for someone to tell him we'll win.

Donna shakes her head, "No, I know."

"It's been good, though, hasn't it? All of us. All of it. Everything we did." The Doctor forces a chuckle. He turns to each of us, "You were brilliant. And you were brilliant. And you were brilliant. Blimey."

At a painfully slow speed, we begin exiting the door. When we step out, all I notice is the open space. I mean, I know that Daleks need room to move with their bulky bodies, but dang. You could fit a gym in this place.

I'm met with a red Dalek standing tall. But… that can't be right. That's not Red, I mean he is red, but not my Red.

I almost reach out to him.

During this, I notice that Donna isn't next to me anymore.

The red Dalek begins to speak. "DAL-EKS REIGN SUP-REME! ALL HAIL THE DAL-EKS!"

A chorus of the same two phrases erupts in the room. I turn my head, when I notice Donna stop just inside the Tardis, like she hears something. I turn again just in time to avoid being taken out by a flying Dalek.

"DAL-EKS REIGN SUP-REME! ALL HAIL THE DAL-EKS! DAL-EKS REIGN SUP-REME! ALL HAIL THE DAL-EKS!"

The red Dalek moves closer to us. "BE-HOLD DOC-TOR. BE-HOLD THE MIGHT OF THE TRUE DAL-EK RACE!"

But the Doctor isn't paying attention to him. His focus is on Donna, who is still in the door of the TARDIS.

"Donna!" He calls, "You're no safer in there."

Suddenly the TARDIS door slams shut, trapping Donna inside.

"Doctor?" Donna calls as she bangs on the door. "What have you done?

His attention turns to me, as of I had something to do with it. "It wasn't me. I didn't do anything."

"What did you do?!" He yells as he turns back to the red Dalek.

"THIS IS NOT OF DAL-EK OR-I-GIN," the Dalek says in response.

While the scene unfolds, I carefully step away from the group, going to the creature that is watching the same scene with giddy delight.

I turn back in case someone sees me to notice that the group is still there, but the TARDIS is gone. Taking in the rest of the room, I notice a spot light on Rose and a young boy, who has his head buried in her neck. His poor little body is breathing rapidly, whereas his mother looks ticked.

I also hear words the pierce my heart. "YOU ARE CO-NNECT-ED TO THE TAR-DIS. NOW FEEL IT DIE."

Oh, Doctor. I shake my head as I approach the creature.

"She's here," the creature sings as near him. "You're here."

Huh, he kind of sound like Rumplestiltskin from _Once Upon A Time_.

I pull myself up on the platform next to him. Looking around again, I walk in the circle to study the broken Dalek.

"So," I ask as I lean over the Dalek. "Are you naturally crazy or should I go with the crazy uncle of the family?"

The creature giggles. "I am Dalek Caan. And you," he giggles again as he whispers, "are the Empress."

I step back from the Dalek's body. "How do you know that?"

He giggles again.

"Then why am I still alive?" Rose exclaims.

I turn my head to see Davros move closer to the two. Jack's gone, which is odd. Davros raises his chin. "You must be here. It was foretold. Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan."

"So cold and dark." Caan says as he reaches out a tactical to me. "Fire is coming. The endless flames. I flew into the Time War just a bit unprotected, but it was more than that. I saw time. Its infinite complexity and majesty, raging through his mind. And I... saw… you. The three of you. The Time Lord and the big, the bad, the wolf with her pup." His tactical slides across my cheek, the slime covering me. "All four of you."

Cann laughs mechanically for a while. "This I have foreseen, in the wild and the wind. The Doctor will be here as witness, at the end of everything. The Doctor and his precious Children of Time. And one of them will die."

The Doctor slams his hand on the edge of his spotlight. "Was it you, Caan? Did you kill Donna? Why did the Tardis door close? Tell me!"

"Oh, that's it. The anger, the fire, the rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions. There he is. Why so shy? Show your companion. Show her your true self. Dalek Caan has promised me that too." Davors begins to circle back towards Caan.

"I have seen." Caan laughs again, like a child that knows a secret. "At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed."

Now would probably be a good time to stop him.

Pushing away Caan's tentacle, I stand. "Um, yeah, hi, wanna explain what's going on here?"

Davros turns, now registering me. "Another Child of Time! Daleks, take the prisoner!"

Jumping off of the edge of the platform, I make my way over to the hybrid. Multiple Daleks move in my way, but that doesn't stop me. Taking out my gun, I aim at their bodies and squeeze.

Parts of Daleks explode everywhere as I cross the room towards Davros.

"How?!" He exclaims as he begins to move away from me. "You are a human! How can you control Dalek technology?!"

At last I stand in front of his chair. Placing my hands on each side, I lean towards him. "Do you," I start, "know who I am?"

Davros stays quiet. Smart of him.

"Caan," I call over my shoulder, keeping my eyes of Davros, "did you tell him I was coming?"

The only response I get is a crazy giggle. Even the Doctor laughs.

I raise my eyebrows as an evil smile spreads across my face. "Well then, Davros you're in for a shock."

His pale skin turns a shade paler as I laugh.

"Davros," The Doctor says, "meet the Empress of the Daleks."


	12. Chapter 12

Author note: Ok, so I know it's late, but here it is! Also, there is still dialogue that has been tweaked. It still belongs to the show, not to me.

...

Davros turns to me in shock. Trying to back away from me, he studders, "The Empress? Impossible! The Emperor would not allow this."

A laugh echoes around us, bouncing off of the walls. "Well darling," I say as I push away from him, walking in a circle around his chair, like a predator stalking its prey, "he didn't exactly get a say. Instead Caan's sweet little cult appointed me as Empress."

Caan's giggle floats around the corridor. "The Empress likes to hum. Your death is like a Tum. Bad Wold Bay will come, but where from?"

I turn back to Davros. His hollowed out eyes show nothing to Caan's crazy riddle, but I know what's going on in that wired brain of his.

Studying him, I glance out of the corner of my eyes to my skin. His pale discoloration verses my purple discoloration. He sickens me. I may be part Dalek now, but I will never become him.

For a moment I lean in towards him, causing him to slightly lean away from me.

He's terrified. Good; he should be.

Standing straight again, I wave my hand as I make my way over to where the Doctor and his family are. "Release them."

Without hesitation, the Daleks do as they're asked.

I glance behind me at Davros. Still, he remains unmoved by what is happening in front of him.

Looking forward again, I find myself in front of Rose and Toby, who has moved from clinging to his mother to hiding behind her. Kneeling down to his level, I reach out my hand to him.

"Hi, I'm Mandy." My hand stays outstretched for a moment before I set it down. "Are you afraid of the mean Daleks?"

The boy nods as he clings to his mother's leg.

I nod as I stand. "Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you."

Rose gently wraps a protective arm around Toby. I hear the familiar sound of converse shoes hitting the floor as the Doctor joins the two with a sweeping hug and a kiss.

Before I can say anything, a voice comes over ther entercom. "This is Martha Jones, representing the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, on behalf of the human race."

Oh, cool, Martha's here.

"Show me the transmission, please." I say as I move away from the family towards the middle of the floor.

"Daleks do not say please," Davros spits.

I snap my head towards him. "I may not be fully Dalek, but I am the boss. Now shut it!"

Martha apears on the screen. Her face is determine, yet worn with worry and stress. "This message is for the Dalek Crucible. Repeat. Can you hear me?"

"Put me through." The Doctor asks.

"It begins As Dalek Caan foretold." Davros cackles.

"The Children of Time will gather, and one of them will die." Caan giggles.

Narrowing my eyes at the two, I ignore their statements.

The Doctor begins to pace. "Stop saying that. Put me through!"

I nod once as the our cameras show the corridor.

"Doctor!" Martha exclaims, "I'm sorry, I had to."

"Oh, but the Doctor is powerless. State your intent." Davros laughs.

"Didn't I tell you to hush?" I growl between my teeth. "Speak again and I'll exterminate you myself. Understood?"

"Amanda?" Martha asks. "You're behind this? No, doesn't matter. I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and its people alone. Or I'll use it."

I tilt my head.

"Osterhagen what?" The Doctor questions as he squints at the piece in her hand. "What's an Osterhagen Key?"

"There's a chain of twenty five nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust. If I use the key, they detonate and the Earth gets ripped apart." Martha explains.

The Doctor stops pacing abruptly. "What? Who invented that? Well, someone called Osterhagen, I suppose. Martha, are you insane?"

"The Osterhagen Key is to be used if the suffering of the human race is so great, so without hope, that this becomes the final option."

The Doctir shakes his head as he starts pacing again. "That's never an option."

"Don't argue with me, Doctor!" Martha shouts. "Because it's more than that. Now, I reckon the Daleks need these twenty seven planets for something. But what if it becomes twenty six? What happens then? Daleks? Would you risk it?"

I clear my throat as I take a step forward. "If I may-"

Feedback echoes through the speakers as the screen changes to a dual screen.

"Captain Jack Harkness, calling all Dalek boys and girls." Sure enough, the man himself appears on the screen. "Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons, or I'll set this thing off."

Rose shifts Toby onto her hip. "Doctor... That- that's my mum."

The Doctor nods. "And Mickey. Captain, what are you doing?"

Jack adjusts his stance. "I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe. I break this shell, the entire Crucible goes up."

Uh oh. This isn't good.

"You can't!" The Doctor exclaims. "Where did you get a Warp Star?"

Sarah Jane steps in to the picture. "From me. We had no choice. We saw what happened to the prisoners." She pauses before she begins speaking again. "Hello Davros. It's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith. Remember?

I raise an eye brow towards Davros, daring him to speak as my hand hovers just above my laser.

Sarah continues, "And I've learnt how to fight since that time on Skaro. You let the Doctor go, or this Warp Star gets opened."

Banter between if both parties about who will destroy the Earth continues until Caan speaks.

"And the prophecy unfolds." He cackles. "The Doctor's soul is revealed. See him. See the heart of him. The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. Takes ordinary people and fashions them into weapons.

Bravely, Davros speaks again. "Behold your Children of Time!"

Within two seconds, my gun is out and fired as Davros screams his last words. "Transformed into murderers! I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this!"

His scream echoes faintly in the following moments as the audience turns their attention towards me. I shrug. I did warn him.

"Oh," I ask as I make my way to the screen. "Did you just remember I was here?"

Caan laughs again.

"Doctor, you brought me here to stop the Daleks, yes?"

The Doctor swallows loudly as he nods. "Amanda-"

"QUIET!" I begin making my way towards him, when I turn towards the screen. "Somehow, not entirely sure yet, but somehow I'm taking these Daleks home to Skaro. They won't harm anyone there. Davros is gone and they listen to me. If any of you, even for a second, think I would knowingly let anyone be hurt, then get exterminated."

Silence reigns for a moment before Jack huffs, "You're still a Dalek."

Suddenly fire burns within me. Yeah, that's right, I am a Dalek. Not fully, but enough that I understand them. I may be one for the rest of my life, but I'm still human as well. Humans have feelings that makes them lash out as others.

I finally understand the Dalek's hatred.

I actually have to clench my jaw to keep from yelling the word 'Exterminate' at him.

Before I can say anything, however, the Tardis appears. Where the heck did that come from? Surprising me even more is the Doctor when he steps out.

Not the one from Skaro. Not the one with Rose. But another Doctor with the same face as the other.

"But that's-" the first Doctor starts.

"-impossible." Rose finishes.

Holding what appears to be a gun, the new Doctor runs across the floor, just as his counterpart yells a warning and he is zapped to the ground. As he moans in pain, the red Dalek appears beside me.

"AC-TI-VATE HOL-DING CELL!"

Once again, Rose, both Doctors, and Toby are trapped.

Just as the second Doctor did, Donna runs out of the Tardis and grabs the gun. "Doctor! I've got it. But I don't know what to do!"

The same random zap sends Donna, flying backwards. Again the gun drops to the floor.

"Donna! Donna!" Rose calls, "Are you all right, Donna?"

"DE-STORY THE WEA-PON!" the Dalek yells as another obeys. "YOUR WARR-I-ORS ARE PA-THE-TIC!"

Rose nudges the Doctor. "How come there are two of you?"

"Human biological metacrisis." He shrugs. "Never mind that. Now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb."

Oh crap, I forgot about that.

The Dalek hovers into the air."DET-ON-A-TION IN TWEN-TY RELS. NINE-TEEN."

Apparently that is a go ahead?

The Doctor tries to escape as the Dalek continues counting.

I don't know what to do.

"NINE. EIGHT, SEVEN."

I don't know how to stop this.

"SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE."

What do I do?!

"TWO, ONE!"

Just as the last number sounds, an alarm rings.

"Mmm," Donne hums. "Closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. That button there."

"SYSTEM IS SHUT-ING DOWN!" A Dalek yells.

"DET-ON-A-TION NEG-A-TIVE!" Another answers.

"EX-PLAIN! EX-PLAIN! EX-PLAIN!"

The Doctor makes a snide comment. "Donna, you can't even change a plug."

"Do you want to bet, Time Boy?"

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE HER!" The red Dalek yells.

A chorus of their favorite word echoes as Donna messes with more buttons.

"WEA-PONS NON-FUN-CTION-AL!"

"Phwor!" Donna exclaims as she dances. "Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix."

I watch as everything unfolds. As the holding cells are deactivated, the Daleks begin acting on instinct to stop them as I stand frozen.

"And spin," Donna sings.

"AHHHHH!" I scream as my heart pounds in my chest. The sound of my own heart makes my head pulse.

I can vaguely see the Daleks spin around on the spot as I drop to my knees.

My cry matches with the Daleks as I scream for help.

Donna simply laughs. "And the other way."

Again I scream in agony as the pain increases tenfold. I cry as I hold my head.

At some point I rolled into a fetal position on the floor. As feet rush away from me, tears flow down my cheeks. I've always been an ugly crier, but this is pure tourcher.

"What did you do?" One of the Doctor's ask.

"Trip switched the circuit-breaker in the psychokinetic threshold manipulator." Obviously not hearing my cries of pain, Donna adds, "Now, let's send that trip switch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you, best temp in Chiswick? Hundred words per minute."

"Ha!" A Doctir exclaims, then, "Amanda!"

"SYSTEM MAL-FUN-CTION!"

"MO-TOR CAS-ING IN-TER-FER-ENCE!"

"WHAT IS HAP-PEN-ING? EX-PLAIN!"

"Stop!" I wail.

"With or without a Reality bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped. I am the Doctor. Maximising Dalekanium power feeds. Blasting them back!"

The sounds of Daleks exploding begins spreading all over the Crucible and the Medusa Cascade causing a single roar of pain to tear from the Daleks and me. A long roar leaves my throat raw as I collapse.

Wralling my arms around my head, I feel something wet come out of my ears.

"What have you done?" The Doctor yells.

"Fulfilling the prophecy," the other states calmly.

"Get Amanda!" Rose yells.

Finally someone notices me. I'm only close to death.

Arms wrap around me the same time a cry of surprise rings out, cutting stright through my head like a jackhammer. Suddenly I'm being moved. My back is pulled against a chest, two beats thumping harder and harder.

"Donna!" The Doctor yells, "Stop the manipulator!"

A brief moment of silence happens before I finally don't feel my head literally splitting wide open.

The Doctor gently sets me down before quickly pulling away from me. Although he isn't a medical doctor, he begins gently checking my body, only to wince each time our skin brushes.

I don't have enough energy to move, mean, or open my eyes. They killed them. The new Doctor and Donna. The two killed them all. I never knew these Daleks, never named them, never met what could have been part of a bigger family. Now I can't even try.

The group soon begins laughing. As the Tardis flies, to what I assume is to take the planet back, each person laughs as they do their part.

Painfully, I open my eyes to find a small face very close to me.

"Move," I growl. That one word is enough to send the child back to Rose and the Doctor.

In attempt to sit or stand, I yelp in pain as I crash back down on the cages floor.

"She's awake!" Toby tells his parents.

Slowly, the Doctor helps me sit up and lean against the wall of the Tardis. The new Doctor watches me with worried eyes.

No. He doesn't get to look at me like that.

I try to growl or scream at him, but all that come out of my throat is a voice-cracking, "Why?"

The new Doctor shifts. "I fulfilled the prophecy."

"They were going to kill innocent people-" Donna adds.

"No!" I shout. "You brought me here to help you stop them!" My rant is cut short as I wince. "You killed them all, I never had a chance to stop. I was supposed to be take them home! I was supposed to..."

"Amanda-"

I hold up my hand. "Stop. I already feel like I'm going to be sick. I- I'm going home."

Jack snorts. "How? Unless you have some Dalek transportation-"

"Jack!" The Doctor snaps. "Amanda, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry this happened."

"Yeah."Glancing down at my wrist, I flip up the vortex manipulator still strapped to me. "I don't know why I was supposed to be here, but I'm going home.

With that being said, I press the button. More disorientation overtakes me as I'm transported back to Skaro.

The last thing I see is Red, his forehead scrunched together in worry as I drop into his arms from exhaustion.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Being an adult sucks and I will be sure to have the chapter on time this week.

...

Everything hurts. The pain inside me feels like someone tried to set me on fire while trying to make my brain explode and pouring acid on me. I don't want to open my eyes, but I force myself to. When I open my eyes, I expect a bright light to shine on my face causing a spilting headache. Thankfully I'm met with darkness.

I moan as I try to move in order to test my extremely sore limbs. The soreness sends another shock wave of pain, throwing me back down to the bed.

Warm hands engulf my shoulders to lower my body back against the bed I'm on. "You should rest," he whispers. "The Thals brought as close to medicine as they have."

Hearing his voice, a whimper escapes my lips as a tear slips down my cheek. I reach out into the darkness as I quietly call out, "Red?"

Instantly he is beside me. His hand takes mine as he lowers my arm back down. "Empress, you should rest."

Even in the dark, I shake my head. "No, not without you."

Quite lingers in the air, before it is interrupted by the creaking of the cot I'm laying on. A few moments later, Red's body is pressed against mine as he molds to me.

The two of us stay in silence for what seems like a long time. Snuggiling beside him, I allow my eyes to rest. It feels so nice. So... safe.

"Is the Doctor still here?" I whisper as I play with his hand and pull myself out of sleep. "I need to talk to him."

Warm breath covers the back of my neck as Red sighs. "Yes, he said you would be upset and would want to talk to him."

I nod. "Send him in, please."

Red brakes away from me as he opens the door, revealing bright light. The two men switch places as the door slides closed again.

I push myself against the back board of the bed. "Doctor, I have questions. You are to answer them."

"Alright."

"Question one: Why did you tell me to go if you knew what would happen?" I ask. Flashes of the other Daleks exploding appear in my mind's eyes.

The Doctor sits on the edge of the bed. "You were meant to meet Caan and kill Davros. Believe it or not, without you there it could have ended a lot worse."

"How?" I snap. "How could it have ended any worse? I didn't do anything! All I did was kill Davros because he wouldn't shut up and he was going to kill the planets." Anger boils in my veins. As I grip the edge of the bed, I hear the moan of metal between my clamped hands.

I just want to understand. I had a family dangled in front of me before it was ripped away from me. What was the point?

The Doctor tries to touch me before he yanks his hand away. He winces as he mumbles, "I'm so sorry Amanda. Donna was trying to protect me and my other self... I don't really know."

The bed creaks again as he leans across the edge of the bed to flips on a small lamp. The small lamp is the shape of a baby Dalek that has its body lit up. It's actually kind of cute.

The light casts a shadow on the Doctor's face, making him appear to be older, more worn than before.

I run a hand through my hair. "Speaking of which, question two: what happened to them? Uh, Rose, Toby, the other you, and Donna and them. What happened to them?"

The Doctor sighs as he runs his hand through his crazy hair, like he has so many times before. "When Donna touched my hand, all the regenerative energy that went into it was transferred into her. Somehow the Tardis and her clicked, which is how the Tardis was saved." He readjust so that he is facing the wall as he continues. "That Doctor she created only has one heart. I can't grow old, I can't die, I only live on and on, but this Doctor can live with Rose, and die with her. I saw that as the perfect thing for Rose and Toby."

For a moment, he stays silent, as if I brought up hard, heartbreaking memories. Which I probably did.

"Jackie wanted Rose back. So during the time, the walls to the parallel worlds were worn. I was able to drop them off together. Rose, Toby, Jackie, and the other me are now all on another Earth safe and happy." His voice breaks as he wipes his eyes quickly, hoping that I wouldn't see the tears that formed in his eyes and are slowly slipping down his cheeks. "Donna... She, uh, she had all of this Time Lord essence in her that was melting her brain. No human can have that in them. So I..." He stops as he sniffs and wipes his eyes again. "So I had to take it away from her, but knowing that she would miss everything we did, I took it away. Amanda, I took every memory from her and it still hurts. It hurts so much. The others continued with their lives. I believe Mickey and Martha even got married."

The Doctor wipes his face harshly again before he turns to me. His face is raw and he clears his throat.

"Doctor," I whisper as I reach out through the pain to wrap my hand around his, "I am so sorry. I never knew how much pain you were in."

He just shrugs as he adjusts his bowtie. "You were I'm pain too. Not only emotional pain, but physical pain. You are connected to the Daleks, your DNA is mixed with their's. I should have warned you."

I smirk. "It's fine. I'm better now."

"In other news... Have you been to the Asylum yet?"

I shake my head. "I had other things to do, remember?"

The Doctor chuckles as he leans back on the bed, the mattress still groaning and creaking in aggravation. "There's a Dalek that think she's human. Says she's been stranded in Alaska for a year protecting herself from none other than Daleks."

I shrug. "Weird, but what's the big deal about that? The watches transform them into humans, remember?"

"No, this is different."The Doctor flashes me a grin that is so full of mischief, I begin to worry immediately. "She thinks she is a human without the watch, she has emotions and all. And her name... is Oswin Oswald."


	14. Chapter 14

I own nothing

The Doctor confuses me.

"I don't get it." I say as I push my hands through my hair. "A Dalek named themselves. That means they're accepting that humans are not inferior, or whatever. Isn't that what we wanted?"

The Doctor grins. Taking my hand, he gently pulls me off of the bed. "That's it. She might not even be a Dalek at all! Come on! Geronimo!"

The Doctor yanks open the door, pulling me into the blinding light. Once my eyes get used to the light again, I notice the Daleks, hybrids, and Thals that are waiting outside my door.

Red is beside my in an instant in his beautiful armor. "WHERE ARE YOU GO-ING?"

I shrug as the Doctor answers. "To the Asylum! I have to meet Oswin!"

"THAT DAL-EK IS UN-STA-BLE! THE EM-PRESS COULD BE HURT!" Red screams as he hovers towards the door, blocking our path.

I tug on the Doctor's arm, yanking him to a stop. Panting, I run my hands over my face. "Look," I say between deep breaths, "I'll- be- fine. Phew! We'll bring his friends and some watches. That way, we can help them properly. Ok?"

Red stays silent before he moves away from the door.

The Doctor begins to move through the door, but I don't move. Instead I wait as Red shifts into a human form. He places his lips on mine as the Doctor watches, obviously not minding the staring or the situation in general.

The two of us pulls away as Red whispers, "Come back to me."

I nod my head as I turn back to the Doctor. This is the second time I've left him, and it breaks my heart, but I have to see the Asylum. I lace our fingers together as we begin walking.

The Doctor, in return, also takes my hand as he pulls us along down the halls while he rambles nonsense.

Soon enough we arrive in a corridor that looks like one we started in, except this one is on a Dalek ship instead of on the planet itself.

The Doctor straightens his bow tie as he sweeps his arm towards a lady standing in front of a group of Daleks with his left arm. The lady has a glowing blue eye stalk that extends out of her head.

I yank the two to a dead stop as I openly stare. "That... That- That's a new one, I gotta say."

The Doctor glances back to me, "May I introduce Darla," he says with the nod of his head, "and the Empress!"

For a moment, his words sit heavily in the air. The smug grin that was on Darla's face slowly melts away as she bows her head.

"Empress!" She exclaims hurriedly, "I- We- We had no idea! Welcome to the Dalek ship!"

Taking in our surroundings, I nod along. "Nice to meet you." Looking back at her, she is still in a deep bow. "Oh, stand up, I'm not that formal."

The woman straightens before her eyebrows raise, "Protect the Empress from the Predator!"

Lasers raise towards the Doctor. "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" a Dalek yells.

"No!"

The room freezes.

"EX...TER-MIN... ATE?" the Daleks question.

I shake my head, "The Doctor is going to help. In order for him to do that he has to be alive. So, Darla, what do you need?"

Darla studies me with all three of her eyes as she joins us below. Handing us four metal bracelets she says, "This will protect you from the nanocloud."

"The what?" The Doctor questions as he studies the bracelets. "The nano what?"

"The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission. You must find a way to deactivate the forcefield from there." Darla states as she joins the other Human-Daleks like herself.

The Doctor shakes his head. "You're going to fire me at a planet? That's your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it."

"In fairness," the other man pipes up, "that is slightly your M O."

I try to hide the loud snort that was supposed to be a laugh behind Red's shoulder. My face turns a bright shade of pink when I notice that the man and woman also have wristbands put on them.

I thank the other humanoid as he puts one on my wrist after he tries to convince me otherwise. Running my fingers over the bracelet, Red kisses my cheek before each of us are pushed into the gravity beam.

At the last second, I catch the surprise of the woman's face as Red transforms back into his natural form.

Here we go.

The beam sends us to the Asylum, where I'm met with some wonderfully freezing snow. The cold shocks me as it hits my warm face. Too bad Red can't be here, he would love a snowball to the face.

Grinning, I rub a handful of snow up and down my arms, remembering years ago how the snow in the mountains would last weeks and weeks before it would melt into spring.

Shaking my head out of that memory, I jog to catch up with the Doctor and others.

The red-headed woman stops as she spins to me. "Who was that man was with you? What did you do to Rory?"

I scrunch my eyebrows together as I keep walking. "The man is Red. He's my... boyfriend? Yeah, yeah, he's my boyfriend."

"A Dalek," she snaps. "You're dating a Dalek?"

Shrugging I continue. "I guess. Look, Rory must be inside somewhere. Come on, let's go get him."

Amy stomps past me in a huff. Obviously she wasn't too keen on being here. As I catch up with them, I notice that they're talking to a man.

CO2 sprays in his face before I notice that there are men scattered along the ground, all with the same blue eye peice as Darla.

Noticing this, I sprint through the door just before the Doctor closes it.

"You almost left me!" I say, smacking his arm.

Amy shakes her head, "Forget about that. Explain. That's what you're good at. How'd he get all Daleked?"

The Doctor begins to pace down the hallway before he looks at his wrist. "Because he wasn't wearing one of these. Oh, ho, ho. That's clever. The nanocloud. Microorganisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet. Anything attacks this place, it automatically becomes part of the on-site security."

Scrunching my eyebrows together I ask, "Like the thing in the watches that make my Daleks human?"

The Doctor nods in excitement.

Amy shakes her head. "Living or dead?"

"These wristbands protect us. The only thing stopping us going exactly the way he did-"

"Doctor, shut up! Living or dead?"

Childlike excitement builds up in the Doctor. "Yes, exactly. Living or-" he glances behind us. Turning, I see the bodies of the men begin to move. "-dead. Oh dear. Run!"

A voice rings out from the ceiling. "Unauthorized personnel may not enter the cockpit."

The voice sounds human. But... there's something off about it.

Amy asks the Doctor, "Is that her again, souffle girl?

"Yeah, she." He nods before looking to me.

Why me? I can tell there's something wrong, but that's all I've got.

"Scanning you." The girl, Oswin, says. "You're in another of the escape pods from the Alaska, right? Same ship I was on."

The Doctir runs a hand through his hair

"How can you hack into everything? It should be impossible. You're in a crashed ship!"

There's a pause, almost like she is thinking and shrugging even when we can't see her. "Long story. Is there a word for total screaming genius that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"

I snort again before slapping a hand over my mouth.

"Doctor. You call me the Doctor." He says while squinting at me.

"Isn't there a breach that we can get through," I ask openly.

While the three of us begin looking, Oswin comes back on the overhead. "Yup, there you go."

The Doctor gets the hatch open. Its the same shaft that heads down into the planet, with light catching a flexible metal ladder hanging down it.

Amy nods her head. "Okay, so somebody else got out this way, then."

"Yeah, so let's go and find them." I say as I start to go down the ladder. Stopping, I point behind the Doctor. "Wait, what are they doing?"

The zombie men from before are on a small monitor on the wall, waving something at the camera.

"What's that?" Amy asks.

The Doctor runs his hand down his face. "One of the wristbands," he groans. "But where did they get it?"

Glancing down at everyone's hands, our eyes fall on Amy's blank wrists. They must have pulled it off her wrist a few minutes ago.

"Doctor, they got it from me."

For a moment, I see fear flash in his eyes. That fear is turned to sorrow as he whispers, "Oh, Amy."

"Doctor," Amy squeaks, "what's going to happen to me? Seriously. Tell me what."

She's scared. In a way, I am too. I don't know what to expect, but I do know that we have to get out of here.

"Nevermind that right now. Let's get down this ladder." I order. "Come on. That's right, after you."

We begin to climb down the ladder from the cockpit into another corridor. For a few moments there is silence before Amy speaks again.

"So tell me, what's going to happen to me? And don't lie. Because I know when you're lying to me and I will definitely fall on you."

I roll my eyes as I descend down the ladder behind her.

"The air all around is full of micro-machines. Robots the size of molecules. Nanogenes." The Doctor explains. "Now that you're unprotected, you're being re-written."

Amy nods.

Oh shoot! Almost missed a rung.

"So, what happens?" Amy presses. "I get one of those things sticking out of my head?"

"Physical changes come later." I answer. "It starts with your mind. Your feelings, your memories."

The Doctor's voice breaks. "I'm sorry but it's started already."

"How do you know?" Amy asks quickly as she speeds up her descent.

Groaning, I tell her. "Because we've had this conversation four times, and, frankly, it's getting annoying."

There is a slight pause before Amy speaks again. "Okay, scared now."

"Hang on to scared." The Doctor says as he lands on the floor below. He helps me and Amy down beside him. Taking her hand he says, "Scared isn't Dalek."

I have to bite my tongue at the last part. Red was scared I would get hurt when the Cybermen came. Red loved me and took me into his home before he knew me. And he is full Dalek!

Shaking my head, I look down at my wrist and back up to the Doctor. He is pacing around the room, talking to the thin air that represents Oswin.

Knowing the Doctor, he is about to drive himself crazy trying to save this girl and Amy. His brain is probably going 50 million miles and hour trying to think of a solution to save everyone.

"Amy! Away from the door!" The Doctor shouts as he pulls his friend back.

The woman shakes her head. "They're just people, Doctor. Just people."

Joining them to joining what the fuss is about, I see a Dalek spinning in a circle, until it's eye lands on me.

"Amy," I whisper as I take her hand. "it's the nanocloud, it's altering your perception. Look again. Those aren't people."

Amy blinks rapidly as the realization sets on her and she stumbles back.

With a broken heart, I realize why they have this place. The Daleks want to be human. And if Amy sees what they want, how long before she becomes one of those hybrids?

It's in that moment, I take off my bracelet and put it on her. She doesn't notice because she is shaking her head repeatedly.

The Doctor runs his hand through his hair. "Oh no..." he groans. "They're coming down!"

I glance up to see the zombie-men at the same time the Dalek from before yells "IN-TRU-TOR!"

Rolling my eyes, I take a step forward. I will not be a stranger in my own home.

"Stop!" I bark at the Dalek and the others slowly joining it.

"Amanda," the Doctor hisses, "what are you doing?"

My eyes snap to him and Amy trying to hide. With the nanocloud working in my system, I can feel the gold in my eyes intensify. "Being the Empress." I turn my gaze back to the Daleks. "Identify me. Access your files. Who am I?"

The Dalek pauses before lowering its head. No, not it... her. My vision flickers between a Dalek and a ballerina lowering her head in a beautiful curtsy.

"You are the Empress." The girls informs me. "Apologizes."

Nodding my head, I turn back to the Doctor. He looks between the Dalek and myself before he moves on. I'm sure he will question me later.

We start running when we stumble in another room. There, the man from before stands as he takes in our presence.

The Doctor and the man, Rory I believe, to what looks like a teleport pad.

"Will sleeping help her?" Rory asks as he gently pushes Amy's hair out of her face.

This results in a loud slap echo through the room.

Oswin's voice comes over the loud speaker again. "Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek? Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?"

Amy rolls her eyes. "Well, somebody's never been to Scotland."

A squirt snicker follows that statement as I look to her. The bracelet should he working now... I hope.

The Doctor nods. "What about you, though, Oswin. How come you're okay? Why hasn't the nanocloud converted you?

"I mentioned the genius thing, yeah?" Oswin jokes. "Shielded in here."

"Clever of you." The Doctor says as he begins to pace again. Nothing much has changed with the pacing. "Now, this place. The Daleks said it was fully automated. Look at it. It's a wreck."

Looking around, I notice he is right. There are spare wires poking out, dust covering everything, few lights working... What happened here?

"Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with them, and not a lot else to do." Oswin states.

The Doctor looks at me. "A junior entertainment manager hiding out in a wrecked ship, hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has ever seen. But you know what really gets me about you, Oswin? The souffles. Where do you get milk for the souffles?"

He is still looking at me, as if I R the answer. Who knows, maybe I do.

"Seriously. Is no one else wondering about that?"

I shrug, "I'm wondering about that, but how about we just do this..." Pushing off the wall I was leaning on, I start towards a door. "How about we go find Oswin, bring her here, and get y'all out of here. There are a lot of sick Daleks here that need me, and I'm not letting you or anyone else destroy them."

The Doctor considers this before he looks at Amy and Rory, who are both looking at him with confusion.

After a beat, the Doctor nods, but not before saying, "They subtract love. Don't let them!"

I rush after the Doctor. Once I reach him, I smack his arm. "Maybe the old ones do, but not mine. Not Red. He loves me. Not Midnight, he loves me as a worker loves their boss. The old Daleks hate constantly, but not me."

We walk in silence.

"I felt their hatred that day- the day with the other you and Rose. I felt their hatred for you build up. It hurts, hating all the time. Eats you from the inside out. But Daleks are not human. The ones that want to be, they're seen as sick, so they're put here. I can help them. I can assist and love them. So Doctor... don't destroy them again, please."

The Doctir glances in my direction. "I know."

I place my hand on his chest as we near two double doors.

"Seriously, Doctor, let me be the leader they believe I can be- that you believe I can be."

The man in the bowtie studies me. His eyes always searching, always studying, finally stop.

"Where's your wrist band?" He asks.

"On Amy, slowing and possibly reversing the process the nanogenes have done to her." His eyes flash as he runs a hand down his face. "I'm already part Dalek. What harm could it do me to become more so?"

The Doctor shakes his head. "You... Why? Why do you humans care so much? Why can't you just be afraid and run?"

Reaching out, I place my hand on the Doctor's shoulder before pulling him into a hug. "Humans love and care and fear everything. The Daleks are no different." I pull away from him as my hand cups his cheek. "You, my Doctor, are no different."

Clearing his throat, the Doctor calls out. "Oswin, I think we're close."

"You are." She confirms. "Less than twenty feet away. Which is the good news."

"Okay..." I say as I push open the doors in front of us. "But...?"

"Welcome to Intensive Care."

My eyes study the room. The Daleks here are in cages. But that's not all I see. They looks human, cowering in the corners of their cells. Some have lost arms, some ears, some have bandages on their heads. Their shells are cracked.

"What's so special about this lot, then?" The Doctor asks, obviously not seeing the pain I'm seeing.

"Don't know." Oswin says. "Survivors of particular wars. Spiridon, Kembel, Eridius, Vulcan, Exxilon. Ringing any bells?"

The Doctor stops in his tracks. Swallowing, he looks around the room again. "All of them."

"Yeah? How?"

For once, the Doctor has a look of a mixture of pain and heartache. "These are the Daleks who survived me.

"DOC...TOR..." A Dalek says weakly.

"DOC... TOR..."

"DOC-TOR!"

He looks at me. A clear scream of help from him.

Raising my hand, I shout a sharp. "Stop!" The Daleks do as I say. "I will be with you in a moment. I have to see someone, then I'll take you home."

"BUT THE DOC-TOR..."

"I have already taken care of him. You rest."

Glancing at the man in question, I wink at him as another door opens.

"Hey, you're right outside. Come on in." Oswin calls.

Coming around the corner, I stop in my tracks.

"Oswin, my dear, we have a problem." I tell her.

"No, we don't." Oswin says in a broken voice. "Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck first time out. Rescue me and show me the stars."

The Doctir takes a step forward into the padded cell. "Does it look real to you?"

"Does what look real?"

He turns to look at me. Placing a hand in his back, I ask, "Where you are right now. Does it seem real?"

"It is real." Oswin says in confusion.

"It's a dream, Oswin. You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible."

Oswin asks, "Where am I?"

I step closer to the Dalek that has chains draped over it.

"WHERE AM I? WHERE AM I?" The Dalek screams.

"Oswin, you're a Dalek.

"I AM NOT A DA-LEK! I AM HU-MAN!" The poor Dalek screams.

"You were human when you crashed here. It was you who climbed out of the pod. That was your ladder." The Doctor joins me, heartbroken.

I run a and over my face. "You're right, Oswin. You're a genius. And the Daleks need genius, bless them. They didn't just make you a hybrid, they did a full conversion."

"Oswin, I am so sorry, but you are a Dalek." The Doctor reaches out to touch her eye stalk before withdrawing his hand. "The milk, Oswin. The milk and the eggs for the souffles. Where, where did it all come from?"

"EGGS. I AM HU-MAN. I AM NOT A DAL-EK! I AM HU-MAN! EGGS!"

"It wasn't real." The Doctir repeats. "It was never real."

Now I cant tell if he is telling her or himself.

"I AM A DAL-EK. I AM A DAL-EK. EGGS. STIR. MIN. ATE.

"Oswin."

"EGGS. STIR. MIN. ATE. EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

"No!" I shout as I push the Doctor behind me. "Oswin, you don't have to do this.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!

Pushing the Doctor fully behind me, I put my hands in front of me. "I can help! I can reverse the process!"

Oswin stops as she tries to move forward. "HOW?"

Taking a step forward as well, I reach into my pocket and retrieve one of the watches from before. "It's not permanent, but this will turn you human for a bit. If anything, you can reset the clock every day."

I decide to test my luck as I approach her. "All you have to do now is open your capsule and give me your hand."

Oswin hesitates, as if she is still wondering if this is her new reality. Finally she opens her capsule. Her pale purple figure looks worse than a squished pumpkin. She stretches out her hand, allowing me to explain how the watch works while I put it on her.

As soon as her capsule closes again, I back up quickly.

"Doctor, your coat, give it to me." I reach behind me as I watch the Dalek before me transform into a scared woman. Rough fabric pushes it's way into my hand. "Here," I tell her as I wrap the coat around her scared girl. "Hey, hey, it's ok. It's ok, you're safe."

The girl stare up at me with large, broken brown eyes. "I'm- I'm safe?"

I nod as the Doctir joins us on the floor. "Yes, you're safe. This is Amanda, she's the Empress of the Daleks. She's going to keep you safe."

Gently, we lift her up. Before we go back to the ship, I gather all of the Daleks that are in the Asylum. So many of them fidget as they tell me how they want to be human. The war veterans twitch as the Doctor stands less than ten feet away. Amy and Rory cling to each other as they join us. Together we teleport to the ship, where Red waits for me.

He hasn't changed into human form, so his red shell shines in the glow of Skaro. As much as I've missed him, I have something to do first.

Steaming, I stomp to the top of the podium.

"DALEKS!" I shout. "You have spent all your lives hating anything that is not like you. You hate others, you fear the Doctor, you try to harm humans, but not anymore!"

The Daleks and hybrids gather as I continue.

"Far too long you have lived in hate. But look at where you are now?" I wave my arms around the group. "We have Daleks that change into humans. We have humans that have changed into Daleks. We have war Daleks and regular Daleks that wait for orders. We also have humans that think, act, and feel like Daleks!"

The group looks around at each other. They see what I do: an Empire.

"The Dalek Empire is growing and going to become stronger than ever." I say as Red hovers beside me. "I have led you in a fight against the Cybermen, led you in a fight against yourself, and we have come out on top every time! So... are you ready to rebuild your Empire?!"

One word. That's all it takes. One word from them and I know that we will thrive. With Red by my side, with my Daleks supporting me, I know I can make them better.

"YES!" The group screams.

The Doctor leans against the Tardis with Amy and Rory. The three of them look so much better than when they first got here.

As the Daleks begin to step into a new era, the Doctor waves his hand as he steps into his Tardis and flys away.

Red wraps his hand around mine and for once in my life I feel sure I'd myself and where I'm going.

I may be terrified to leave, but I know with him by my side, I can do anything. Because I am the Empress of the Daleks.


	15. Update

THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE!

This is an announcement of a SPIN OFF!

After much thought, I have decided to continue the Empress' journey by diving her into the Arrowverse. In other words, she will be going to see the Flash!

Read "The Empree and The Flash" RIGHT NOW!


End file.
